Of Spells and Bloodlust
by Mariel Nightstalker
Summary: Sequel to Of Sugar. This covers Harry's 5th and 6th years at Hogwarts. SLASH OMC/Harry
1. Chapter 1

A/N: This is the sequel to Of Sugar and Sulphur, so be sure to read that one and the fic Of Demons that precedes it as well before trying this one since my take on the potterverse isn't exactly canon.

Disclaimer: I do not own the Harry Potter series….hell, I haven't even read it. And I make no profit from this story. It is merely a way to pass the time and I would appreciate if no lawsuits were filed against me.

Of Spells and Bloodlust

CHAPTER 1

Augustus came into his office and blinked when he saw that the wall facing the rising sun seemed to have been blown off. He rather liked his office the way it had been before, so he was feeling a little miffed and confused. Spotting an immaculately groomed woman with a long red ponytail sitting in his office chair, he pushed down his irritation and seated himself on the new visitor's couch he had filched at a flea market several weeks ago.

"How can I be of service, ma'am?"

"I'm looking for a Necromancer named Mammon. Heard of him?"

"Yes, but only in passing. He isn't one of ours, I'm afraid. Is there anything else you needed?"

"I have a report on the Malfoy girl, and I was wondering if there is a department here that I could get some information from on common bypasses of the degeneration of the body of those actually meant to die."

"Oh, yes, they are on the 2nd floor, room 267. I'll give them a call to so they will be expecting you." He sat up and reached across the desk to access the side he would normally be sitting on, picking up the Victorian telephone and asking for room 267.

"Hello? Nora? Yes, this is Gussie, and I have a young lady here who would like some information on cures for degenerating bodies that have been revived for benign purposes. Yes…of course. She'll be down soon." He set the phone in its cradle and smiled at her. "They'll be waiting for you, ma'am."

"Thank you for your assistance."

"It is what I'm here for, miss."

--

Harry woke slowly, still clinging to his dreams, which had been pleasant for once, and spent several hours just lazing around in bed since he didn't have anything important going on. Asmodeus was awake and stroking his temple with two fingers soothingly, sometimes leaning in to kiss it gently. It felt very nice and had lulled him into full sleep several times already. Finally, fully awake and feeling a little antsy, he tried to get out of bed but was held back by Asmodeus wrapping both of his arms around his stomach and burying his face in his lap, which made him blush and hope that his guardians didn't decide to burst in because this would be the last way he would want them introduced to each other.

The brunette moved his head so he was nuzzling him now, opening his mouth to teasingly bite his hip bone. Harry giggled, being ticklish there, and swatted at his hair to try and make him stop. When success was not achieved, he flopped on his back and resigned himself to the hickey he was sure would be forthcoming, not that he minded them or anything. It was kind of nice to think that Asmodeus liked marking him as taken.

Sharp teeth punctured the skin and a small trickle of blood stained the fabric of his sleep trousers (he had started wearing them when Asmodeus had confessed that seeing him sleep in nothing but a large t-shirt and underwear was very, ahem, _distracting _). He gasped, not having been expecting that and trying not to focus on the sudden fuzzy feeling that filled his head, his nerves going into frenzy and making him wake up fully.

He gripped the Demon's hair to warn him of what he was doing, and Asmodeus had the nerve to ignore him, sucking harder on the already abused skin of his hips. He took the time to trace the faint scars from his suicide attempt to many years ago with first his fingers, then his tongue, purring when Harry bucked a little and tried to squirm away. He gripped his hips now, both to hold him down and to keep him still, smiling when Harry whimpered and covered his hands with his own, no longer making any move to escape.

"You taste like sugar." Asmodeus joked; tugging down the fabric of Harry's trouser's a little so he could bruise the rest of his left hipbone, lowering his head and sucking hard on the pale skin until it turned purple and red. He shifted himself so he had a leg on either side of his slim legs, attention solely on reaching as much skin as he could. Harry arched and somehow managed to untangle his hands from the sheets and grip the brown locks splayed over his torso and thighs, fingers clenching and nearly tearing his hair out by the roots when the mouth abandoned his still-bleeding hip to mouth kisses over his crotch.

A trickle of sweat ran down the side of his face and he wiped it away, raising himself on his elbows to observe Asmodeus as he slowly unbuttoned the front of his pants, loosing the tie string along the way and playfully licking the front of his underwear. He wasn't sure he wouldn't regret giving into this later, but he was feeling a little too happy about the situation to protest, later awkward consequences be damned. His elbows gave out when Asmodeus sat up and gave up his slow act to yank his underwear and trousers down at the same time, sitting on Harry's thighs so he could watch Harry bite his lip to keep quiet when he stroked him gently, not wanting to scare him. They had messed around plenty of times, but usually not in plain daylight and not so intimately. He bent his back and kissed him carefully and thoroughly, trying his best to communicate that he was safe and that he wasn't going to hurt him. "Harry." He whispered. Harry didn't respond, chest rapidly rising and falling as he panted, eyes tightly closed as the fingers around him began to pick up the pace, rubbing over the head and squeezing the base with care.

"Harry, look at me." He rubbed their noses together, using his free hand to cup the side of Harry's face and stroke his jaw as he kissed his eyelids. They fluttered open and hazy green met his yellow. "Hey."

"More." Was all Harry could mange, wrapping his calf around one of the demon's legs and clenching the muscles there. Asmodeus' breath caught and he grinned at the effect he was having on him.

"Say please." He was grinning again, slowing his hand down until it was barely moving in slow strokes. Harry groaned and licked his lips, moving his hips upward until they bumped Asmodeus' torso. "Please." He whispered, smiling when Asmodeus kissed him and resumed his previous pace. The heated, close feeling in the air almost suffocated him now, the sun making his skin feel like it was on fire as it added to the heat his boyfriend was causing. It rose until he felt all of his muscles clench, faint though they are at his age, under his skin and especially in his lower stomach, where they seemed to tie themselves into a replica of the Gordian Knot. He came, unable to stifle a loud gasp, and then felt himself practically float out of his own body, any tension or lingering fears he might have had from the past _year _disappearing in a flash of powerful light. He cracked his eyes open a few minutes later, trying to catch his breath and losing it again when he saw the awed look on his boyfriend's face. Judging from the tense way he was sitting now, he could guess that he hadn't been able to finish business through the sight of him…coming like that. In fact, it would seem to have worsened his plight. Waiting a moment to gather himself, he sat up against the pillow and grasped his hips carefully and tugging him towards himself, smiling shyly to show he didn't mind.

Asmodeus sagged when Harry kissed him, hands moving through Harry's hair and smoothing back his fringe to reveal his high forehead so he could lap at it with his tongue when they broke apart, Harry still not having enough air in his lungs to continue for very long. "What do you need me to do?" Harry murmured, mouth now gently pressed to his jugular as he suckled lightly. He wasn't sure he wanted to intake some Demonic blood right now, by either accident or design, considering the effect it usually had on him.

He hadn't exactly been planning to have Harry touch him like this, but he was a little too close to the edge to be thinking clearly.

"You can do whatever you want to me." He bite down on Harry's ear after saying so, twining an arm around his bony shoulders and mentally scolding himself for not making him eat more.

Harry inhaled sharply and tried to decide what to do first, unconsciously shifting one of his legs between Asmodeus' and rubbing it against the topic of debate. Yellow eyes slitted themselves and the grip around him tightened almost painfully, Asmodeus' sharp breaths against his neck inducing him to continue moving his thigh against him until his hips began to jerk and he actually fell on top of him, the arm that had landed around his back tightening until it was a little difficult to breath.

"Nnghh…" He groaned, face now against the pillow Harry's back was braced against.

"Did I hurt you?" Harry whispered frantically, mistaking the sound for one of pain.

"God, no! Just…just don't stop."

Harry swallowed and continued, using his hands to massage his hips and mouthed his collarbone gently, nibbling the jutting bones affectionately until Asmodeus made some strange noise consisting only of vowels into the pillow, and Harry felt something wet against his bare thigh, even through the fabric of Asmodeus' trousers.

He flopped onto his back, relaxing his limbs and grinning like a loon. It was about time he turned the tables, and he had liked being in charge for once. Asmodeus made a mumbling noise and seemed to drift off into sleep. Harry resolved to take a shower later, since he was far too comfortable at the moment to even consider getting out of bed.

Downstairs his guardians wondered what was going on, and Vladimir whispered to his brother that it was about time the puberty monster visited Harry with wet dreams. Bronislav had smacked him with a spatula.

--

End chapter 1

Well, I decided to open on a different note this time. I know the lime sucked, but please tell me why so I can do better next time bows


	2. Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2

Vladimir had invited him down for breakfast after knocking on his door, and Harry had indulged them by coming to sit at the table, graciously accepting the small bowl of porridge that Bronislav must have made, since he was his only family member who didn't try to force him to eat far more than he could fit in his stomach. They sat down opposite him on the bench they had gotten from the Oxfam shop a few months ago because it was getting harder to fit enough chairs around the table when everybody was there. They stared at him, and the silence fell down over them like a massive snowdrift with no intention of melting.

Taking a bite of his porridge, which had a bit of a cinnamon undertone, Harry continued his stare-down with his fidgeting guardians. They seemed to have something important to say, but weren't sure how.

"I'm not gonna bite you, you know." Harry finally snapped, mind now fixating on all the things he needed to do that day. When his guardians put their minds to something, it would get done but it might take all day since they seemed to have a different concept of time than most modern people their supposed age (which brought to mind the ever-present wondering of how old they really were). They jumped at his outburst, Bronislav spilling coffee down his front and groaning when it stained the carpet while Vladimir grabbed a napkin and began to dab at his younger brother's chest. Harry snickered and cast a cleaning spell, remembering to use his wand at the last minute and hoping they wouldn't remember the laws against underage magic. Bronislav seemed to gather himself, drawing up his shoulders and wrapping his fingers around each other.

"Well, Harry, you are 14 now-"

"15 in 2 weeks." Harry hastily put in, not quite believing it himself. Vladimir blinked.

"You are a little old for this conversation now...forgive us for neglecting to explain to you the various, ahem, changes your body will start to go through and-"

Harry cut him off again by raising a hand, barely holding in his laughter. It must have shown in his eyes because they looked slightly taken aback. "Guys, please don't tell me you've decided _now _is the time to give me The Talk." They both flushed and he immediately knew that he had guessed correctly, although the poorly concealed book on Human Anatomy under the tablecloth had been a sizable clue when paired with their nervousness. "I'm afraid I've already researched that myself, and you really don't need to impart any knowledge on that topic, unless you really want to do this in which case I will pretend not to know what you're talking about." He shrugged "Your choice."

"If you already know, than this is superfluous." Bronislav seemed to be entirely too eager to discontinue the conversation, and Harry spied Vladimir stomp on his foot under the table. "I mean, if you don't have any questions."

"I do have one question but not about this." They made expectant movements and Harry asked, "Vladimir, what were you doing in that cave?" Bronislav turned his head and glared ferociously at his brother. "If the cave Harry is talking about is the one I think it is, we are going to need to have a little private discussion later." Vladimir swallowed and Harry resolved to listen in on this conversation when it took place.

"Well?"

"The, uh, the cave is places where some things are kept which aren't meant to be, uh, seen by the common people."

Harry scowled. "A little more detail would be nice, please." Vladimir fidgeted and Bronislav moodily poured himself a fresh cup of coffee, sipping it slowly and staring out the window at the trees and cerulean sky stretching as far as he could see until the hills prevented that. Not a cloud was visible, but there was a veritable thunderstorm in the quiet kitchen, broken only by the soft sound of Broni drinking and the ticking of the cat-shaped clock Sirius had bought them as a joke present last Christmas.

Vladimir coughed. "The cave is a storage area for failed and illegal projects of the United Kingdom Ministry of Magic that they don't want being found and are unable to destroy."

"So how did you get in?" Harry asked, commandeering Broni's coffee for a quick sip and handing it back with a smile.

"I have some connections."

"Anybody I know? And why were you there that night?"

"Um, you shouldn't know any of the staff since they don't get out much. It's a shitty job, really. As for _why _I was there, that's a long story that isn't meant for you to hear."

"Okay." Harry smiled as if he accepted their request for ignorance. "Am I excused now?"

"Yes, you are. Are you going out today?"

"Well, if I'm allowed?"

"Of course you're allowed. Just be back in time for dinner because your father and the rest will be here and I'm sure they will want a first-hand report on how you liked sharing school with two different ones." Harry laughed. "He would, wouldn't he? Don't worry; I won't be out for very long unless that new load of books has a lot of good ones to choose from." He cleared his dish and went upstairs to get himself together and grab the bag of clothes and various things his friends that didn't have access to charity organizations had assembled that they didn't need anymore. Running his fingers through his hair to try and neaten it a little, he dug out a pair of socks and pulled them on and puttered off to the bathroom to brush his teeth and wash his face. Upon returning, he poked Asmodeus in the side to wake him up. The Demon kidnapped his hand and lightly bit his fingers lightly in revenge. "Hey, I'm going into town to look at some books and deal with my friend's shit. Do you want to come with me now or later or not at all?"

"I'll come now." Asmodeus sat up, swinging his legs over the bed and standing up. He smoothed a hand through Harry's hair on his way to the bathroom, reappearing a minute later. "Ready to go?"

"Yeah." He shouldered the bags and pocketed some money he'd made from selling a paper or two to some magazines via a bored older student who wanted a percentage of the money Harry got paid it.

"Are those going to be too heavy for you?"

"I can take it for a little while, and then you can carry some when nobody is around." Asmodeus transformed and followed him on silent paws as he descended the stairs, one of the heavy canvas bags knocking obnoxiously at his hip which was still quite sore from yesterday's activities. He blushed a little and slipped his feet into his trusty boots, shouting good bye to his guardians who were in the back yard working on some project.

The walk out of sight was silent, and then Asmodeus transformed and wrapped an arm casually around Harry's waist, taking two thirds of the bags onto his own shoulders. Harry stood on his toes and kissed him.

--

End chapter 2

Review please!


	3. Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3

The doorbell rang out through the house, and Bronislav sent a significant look at his brother until he got off the ragged Chesterfield to answer the door. Bronislav took a sip of his coffee, propped his feet up on the small table missing a leg that they had placed in front of the couches, and adjusted his paper to the local events section.

Vladimir reappeared, scratching his right arm uncomfortably. "Um, it's a lady who says she lives close by. She says she knows Harry and is wondering if he is home. What do I tell her?"

Bronislav sighed and folded up the paper, setting his coffee on a battered copy of 3-dimensional calculus that he and his brother went over when they were bored to keep their minds from getting rusty. Stalking down the hallway to the screen door where a fashionable woman wearing a floral-print dress waited, looking nervous to be alone with two such formidable men. Bronislav forced a smile onto his face, hoping that his brother would get the hint and stop scaring her with a look that clearly read what he would do to her if he didn't like the way she knew Harry or suspected her of doing something disreputable to him.

"Does Harry live here?" She asked, looking flustered now and tucking a curly strand of hair that had come out of her coif behind her ear.

"Yeah, he does. He'll be right down." Bronislav smiled benignly and sneakily elbowed Vladimir in the side.

"Oh! Right, I'll go get him." He scampered up the stairs, pausing in his room to take a deep drink of the bottle of blood that Regulus had given him when he'd arrived last night. From up stairs he could hear his brother inviting her in for tea and her accepting gracefully. He knocked on Harry's door, hearing a flurry of activity and a loud thump from within that spiked his curiosity almost to the point of him invading his privacy and opening the door, but he was spared when Harry did so for him. Judging from the rumpled state of the bed with books and papers strewn every which way, not to mention the enormous tome splayed on the floor, his suspicion was lowered. The poor kid must have gotten so into his research that he boxed himself in.

"Yes?" Harry asked, leaning gracefully against the door frame and smiling almost coyly. He was wearing a very thin tank top and Vlad could have sworn he spied a bruise of some kind on his hip. He would have to lecture him about not bumping into things later, since it looked kind of big.

"There's a woman downstairs who says she knows you. She said she lives around here so…do you know anybody like that?"

"Was she sort of young-ish, but married?"

"Yeah!"

"Then its Mrs. Bassington, or Annette if she likes you, and she's our neighbor. Let me get a proper shirt on and I'll be right down." He closed the door, and Vladimir descended the stairs to silently observe his brother and this Annette woman as they chatted amiably about the state of farmer's rights or something. Harry came down a minute later, smiling brilliantly at Mrs. Bassington when he saw her and ignored her offered hand when she stood, opting to giving her a hug instead.

"I'm guessing you're here for the garden work?"

"If now isn't a bad time?" Her hands fluttered a little before going still at her sides.

"Now is perfect, since I was just starting to get a little stir crazy." He laughed a little, shifting from one foot to another casually. "Um, guys, do you mind if I help Mrs. Bassington set some stone work for her patio? I should be back in a couple hours at the most, since it isn't a big job or anything."

"Of course you can go." Bronislav waved a hand. "You need to spend more time outside anyway. Just be back in time for dinner because your father says he has a surprise for you."

"Okay, see you then. You ready?" The last was directed to Annette, who nodded and gathered her sweater around her shoulders before standing and exchanging the usual parting pleasantries with his guardians.

--

The work had pushed his developing muscles to the limits, since she had needed him to carry the slabs of rock back and forth as she decided on the best placement for them, and they had to plaster them together with the mortar, which was very hard to work in properly. In the end he finished an hour before dinner, and had to hurry home since it was a long walk and he needed a shower.

Hair dripping cold water down his back and making him shiver, he wandered into the kitchen and helped his father and Regulus chop vegetables for the salad while Vladimir and Sirius had a shouting fit outside about how to use the Muggle grill. Harry rolled his eyes at them and grinned at his dad, who grinned back and put a piece of lettuce in his mouth.

"I heard you have a surprise for me." He noted conversationally, sweeping the vegetables off his cutting board with his knife into the bowl.

"Dammit! You weren't supposed to know that…"

"Well, I don't know what it _is, _so technically I am still surprised. Is this for my birthday? 'Cause its a few days from now yet."

"Nothing to do with that, but I still want you to be surprised."

"Haha, I promise to pretend if I'm not."

"Good boy." They grinned at each other and Regulus shook his head at them, grabbing a thing of onions to take outside to the still-bickering men. He managed to get Sirius to shut up by kissing him, and Vladimir switched from scowling to pestering him for details about how they had gotten together, Sirius eventually giving in and telling him the whole sordid tale, unaware that Harry had sharpened his ears to listen in and that a certain Demon of Lust was admiring his handiwork from a floor up in the form of a 'dozing' white cat.

--

Dinner was pleasant, although Harry continued to bug his father about the surprise. Finally, just as Bronislav brought out the wine and cheese that they were having for dessert, James broke and grabbed Maalik's hand, lifting it up to show a silver band on his left hand. Harry choked on his water, but smiled to show that he wasn't upset, getting out of his seat and kissing his father's fiancée on the cheek affectionately.

"Jeez, dad, I thought it would be something quite different. So tell me…how did this happen?" An evil grin spread across his face and he supported his chin on his hand with a look of intense interest, his free hand snaking out and stealing a sip from Regulus' wine.

James looked like he wanted to scold him, but was too busy blushing. Maalik smiled indulgently at him, and proceeded to tell them all that they had been in Italy, and James had taken him out for a midnight stroll, looking more nervous than usual before actually getting down on one knee and begging him to marry him. Harry cooed with Sirius mockingly, kicking his dad in a friendly way under the table.

"Oooh, so when is the wedding?"

"Well, we were thinking August so you won't have to leave school to be at the ceremony."

"Serious about this, are you?"

"Yeah, yeah I am." James placed his hand over Maalik's and gave it a squeeze. Harry felt happiness swell up in his heart, since he had gotten quite fond of the mediwizards in the couple of years he had known him, and hadn't allowed himself to hope for more between his father and him.

Having your wishes answered was truly wonderful feeling, and it had nothing whatsoever to do with the wine he had continued to snag during the narration.

--

End chapter 3

James and Maalik, sitting in a tree….


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: I am sorry that there wasn't an update yesterday, and that it took me so long to reply. My internet was down and I just got it back late yesterday afternoon. Please forgive my server's one faulty day?

CHAPTER 4

He had discovered a new glade in the forest recently, and had taken a book with him to read while he got his allotted amount of sunlight forced upon him by a very firm Bronislav. He had almost slipped up and made a joke about Vladimir needing a certain amount of darkness, but caught himself just in time. That would have been a little difficult to explain. The glade was more shaded than anything, but there were enough patches of sunlight to deter any suspicions his guardians might have had before they left to go buy groceries and show the Black brothers around the town (they wanted jobs). Harry had chosen a half-n-half spot, lying on his stomach and spreading his book on Angel legends in a dry spot in front of him. An ant was now cheerfully exploring the margins between the paragraphs and diagrams of Magic Circles for supposedly establishing communication with the Angels themselves. Raito was curled against his side in a warm patch of bright sunlight, purring and rubbing his head against Harry's bare ribs in a clear request to be petted that Harry had decided to ignore until he had formed himself into a Human again.

The moss of the forest floor he was lying on felt nice against his skin, and Harry ran his fingers along the fuzzy texture of it, humming softly to himself a tune he had heard at the petrol station in town when he'd been picking up some cigarettes (I don't know if they sell cigs at petrol stations in England, but they do in America). The sudden presence of a large and firm body beside him informed him that Raito had transformed and a wet kiss behind his ear confirmed that he was still feeling affection-starved.

"Hey." Asmodeus whispered.

"Are we alone?" Harry asked, pretending to be shy and looking around nervously while hunching his shoulders slightly. His legs swung back and forth where he had bent them up into the air in a careless rhythm and he dropped his ruse when Asmodeus rolled his eyes, leaned in, and kissed him gently on the side of his brow bridge.

"You can do better than that." Harry teased, dropping one shoulder and coyly fluttering his eyelashes in perfect imitation of some teenaged girl trying to get a free telephone call at the same petrol station he had managed to get cigs from he had seen.

"I'm sure I could, but I'm not sure I'm being properly appreciated." Harry gasped and placed a hand over his heart, angling his body now so he was lying on his side and facing the Demon, who had stuck out his lower lip and assumed a petulant expression.

"Not appreciated? You? How anyone, man or woman, could ever ignore you is beyond my comprehension. Clearly you are something worthy of notice and-"

Asmodeus kissed him, and pulled back to whisper, "Be quiet." Harry smiled and pecked him on the chin, tilting his head to nuzzle the underside of his chin and grinning deviously when Asmodeus groaned. It worked every time.

From the window of his shared bedroom on the second floor, Maalik was afforded an expansive view of the forest and various hills surrounding the property, not unlike a living fence through which he could see the faint shimmer of numerous wards and nasty trap spells woven through them by presumably the Polski brothers. He had been surveying a very nice glade which he intended to eat lunch in later when a bit of movement attracted his attention to a different clearing several yards farther. His eyes narrowed while he tried to discern what he was seeing. There were two figures, within the wards, and seemed to be lying down facing each other while…snogging? He leaned forward and pressed his nose to the glass, trying to figure out who it could be. The Polskis and Blacks were in town, James was in the shower, and Harry was somewhere getting some sunlight.

He paused to wonder if Harry had ever gone more than a couple hours without reading. Probably not, judging from what he'd seen. The boy must have gotten it from his mother, because James only dedicated himself to reading when he really put his mind to it or it was an emergency. Maybe he should leave whoever the people were alone as it really wasn't any of his business. But what if they were trespassing somehow? He bit his lip and weighed the various possibilities in his mind. The sound of water hitting the tiled walls of the shower a few doors away soothed him and allowed him to think clearly, if the accompanying images of James naked acted as a sort of counter to that.

Giving up on dismissing his curiosity, he used a sight-sharpening spell and focused on the people. They resolved into a tall brunette with long straight brown hair who was cupping the face of a smaller figure with a mess of black hair that looked very familiar, an open book discarded to the side. As he watched, they rolled so the smaller one was on top, clearly showing that his suspicions about them being romantics reinforced. There was something so terribly familiar about that head of black hair, but he couldn't put his finger on it. In the background the shower shut off and there were several minutes of silence until the bedroom door opened and James stood behind him, wearing a towel and smelling like soap.

"What are you looking at?" He asked, resting his head on his shoulder and peering out the window. He seemed to have caught sight of the people, whoever they were, and Maalik heard him whisper the eye-sight spell.

"Who are they?" He asked a moment later. Apparently he couldn't see who they were either.

"I don't know. I just saw them and thought they might be trespassers or aurors come to hunt us down."

James laughed. "I somehow get the feeling that they aren't concerned with hunting at the moment. Come on, they aren't causing any trouble. Let's leave them to it."

In the clearing Harry took a deep breath, his face still hidden by Asmodeus' hair. "That was too close." He whispered, fingers clenching in the white cotton of his boyfriend's shirt.

"We'll just have to be more careful." Asmodeus whispered back, kissing his forehead and smoothing his hands down the ridges of Harry's spine with care.

--

Narcissa nearly screamed with fright when she saw the strange redhead from last month appear out of nowhere in her hall, directly in front of her. the woman took a polite step back, and gave her one of those perfunctory smiles you get trained to use at all workplaces where there is good service.

"I apologize for startling you, ma'am. My apparatation has been known to be slightly below par in the aiming department."

Narcissa brushed down the front of her dress, a compulsive habit she'd had ever since she was a little girl and had never been able to break, smiling back at Darlene. The woman had a black leather satchel that clinked slightly when she shifted on her shoulder, and a bubble of excitement traveled up from her stomach to her throat. She gestured slightly with a gloved hand and whispered, "Is that…?"

"Yes. May I see Colette? And do you mind me using an assistant for some of the processes? I believe you may have met already"

"That should be fine; whatever you need to get the job done. Just follow me. She and her sister are doing their studies at the moment." She swept off in the direction of the library, ignoring the portraits who scowled at her for allowing a stranger who could be of lesser blood associate with her children. Arriving, she opened the gleaming double doors, gloves leaving no sign of grease on the polished gold handles. The shelves stretched on in a maze-like formation, but Narcissa moved with confidence to the section she knew her daughters and their current nanny would be engaging in studies of the properties of various potions ingredients.

"Colette, I have a nice lady here who is going to help you get better. Will you come with mommy now?"

Colette's ghostly eyes were almost white and she nodded slowly, closing her book and giving it back to the nanny politely who had been quizzing her sister on phraseology. The nanny took it, rising briefly to bow to Narcissa before seating herself again and returning her attention to Sophie, whose brow was delicately creased as she forced herself to recall the grammar needed to say a phrase her nanny requested.

Narcissa smoothed a hand over Sophie's head of curls affectionately before scooping up her older sister and leading the way to a sitting room which contained a large sofa and had a bathroom connected in case they needed running water.

"Is here alright?" Narcissa asked, setting Colette, who resembled a porcelain doll with the paleness of her skin and hair, on the sofa with care. Colette made a grab for her waist before she could move away, eyes wide and bright.

"Please don't leave, mommy!" She cried, hiding her face in the embroidered satin of her mother's bodice. "I'm scared that I'll go back to the Dark Place." She whispered, voice barely registering.

"Um, if it's not any trouble-"

"It is no problem, Mrs. Malfoy. This sort of reaction is normal, and I believe your presence will greatly improve your daughter's emotional state while I proceed. If I may call my assistant now?"

"Of course you can."

Darlene seemed to stiffen just a little, and her blue eyes dilated for a second before returning to normal. She set her bag on the carved table gilded so the cherubs looked like they were glowing from within, flicking open the clasps and withdrawing some vials of liquid that changed colors gradually, swirling like oil within their confines. The doors opened unexpectedly and a blond man entered, kneeling immediately at Darlene's side in a traditional greeting of a subordinate to a superior. Darlene sighed and smacked him lightly on the back of his head.

"Get up, you. What took so long?"

"I was surveying something entertaining and didn't feel desirous to leave in the middle of it."

"This wouldn't have something to do with Asmodeus and that Human boy he's been involved with for the past couple years, would it?"

"It would."

"You _are _aware of a word called 'privacy', right?"

"Yes, and I take great pleasure in violating it every chance I get."

"So I've noticed." She finished removing the last of the vials, a total of 12 now resting on the glass top of the table. Leviathan gaped. "W-where did you get those?"

"The obvious place: The Ministry for the Dark. Why you didn't think to pay them a visit and make a few requests is beyond me. I mean, how old are you now, hm?" He looked like he was going to try and say something so she held up her hand to keep him quiet. "I am as aware of there being no time in Heaven and Hell as you are. Still, that is no excuse for such foolishness."

"Yes, ma'am." The blond looked cowed and Narcissa suddenly recognized him as the same assistant who had accompanied Mammon. Her conclusion was confirmed when Darlene ordered, "Leviathan, could you fill this with water from the loo over there?" While handing him a silver basin.

"Sure." They seemed far less formal around each other now, Leviathan pausing on his way to the bathroom to take a long and obnoxious sniff of Darlene's hair, which was in it's customary high ponytail, the long end swishing with every movement of her head and a new set of earrings made from peacock feathers shimmering on either side of her face.

"You smell nice. Did you take a shower recently?"

She rolled her eyes at him, removing a case of tiny syringes and needles from the bag. "Just fill the damn basin, Levi."

"I'm going!" He mock-scowled and disappeared inside the spotless bathroom, admiring the prints of rare birds adorning the walls as he set the shallow basin under the faucet and turned it to 'cold', careful to fill it to the very edge and then ordering the water to remain inside the basin until later plans. It immediately stopped rippling and was perfectly still even when he tripped a little on the ornate tassels of the Indian rug of the parlor. He set the basin on the table and waited for Darlene to give him work. She did so by handing him a syringe and the bottle containing bright red liquid that looked strangely thick.

"Is this blood?" He nonchalantly asked, arranging the supplies and then using them to fill the tube connected to the needle. Colette didn't even whimper at the sight, merely watching with wide eyes and Leviathan handed the syringe to Darlene, who smiled reassuringly at the little girl as she approached. Leviathan strapped a device around her arm that would immediately affect her blood pressure without being asked and was rewarded with an amused upward tilt of the redhead's lips.

"You look like Rael when you do that. Stop it; it's creepy."

"Since when are you of all people scared of creepy?" She carefully inserted the needle into the appropriate vein, looking impressed when Colette didn't make a sound, simply staring at her with limpid eyes that were a little shiny with unshed tears when the potion began to take effect, seeming to spread color to her skin throughout her arm and then the rest of her body that they could see rapidly, eventually making her cheeks a healthy pink tinge. Darlene handed Leviathan the now-empty syringe and he called a fire into the hearth, smashing and then melting the metal and glass with the assistance of the flames until they were roughly the size of marbles and smooth as silk. He pocketed them and took the second used syringe that Darlene handed him, proceeding to burn all 12 of the syringes as she gave them to him. When she was done injecting Colette, Leviathan consolidated the balls until they were both roughly half the size of a bowling ball. He handed the glass one to Darlene, who handed it to a surprised Colette.

"What do I do with it?" She asked, surprisingly articulate for a girl her age.

"Look inside and tell me what you see. It will let you know what you need for the last thing to make you all better."

"Oh, okay." She focused her eyes, now a gray color with bits of brown and gold in them, on the ball and her pupils dilated.

"What did you see, sweetie?" Narcissa asked, rubbing her daughter's shoulder.

"I saw a purple flower. I looked….looked like it was made out of fire."

"Did it look like this?" Leviathan placed pressure on either side of the metal ball and cracks appeared on the surface like hatching egg, getting wider and deeper as his knuckles turned white from the pressure he was exerting. The outer coat of metal vanished suddenly and cradled in the blonde's small hands was a blue-ish flower that looked almost purple from the way the flames were flicking outwards.

Colette nodded, looking awestruck as the Demon approached and gently removed one of the seemingly harmful petals from the bloom and held it out to Darlene. She took it and turned to face Colette, perched on the edge of the low table just beside the empty case that had contained the syringes. Narcissa noticed that the label on the top was in some language she had never seen before, and the wood had a silvery tint to it, a tell-tale sign of an extinct magical practice of converting purified silver into a nearly-colorless liquid with transfiguring and protective properties, commonly used in potions for women desirous of becoming pregnant or preserving various living things. That it had been used in such a superfluous way spoke volumes of just what sort of prestige her two visitors had in the magical spheres, both populated by Humans and the unknown.

"Open wide. It won't hurt you, I promise." Darlene softly said, moving the petal towards the child's mouth. Colette hesitated a moment before obediently opening her mouth and eating the petal. Darlene continued to feed her, carefully searching her face for any sign of pain or discomfort. When nothing remained but the stem, which had a glassy property to it, Leviathan sucked on it like it was candy, waving goodbye to the redhead and disappearing in a cloud of smoke that smelled strange to the Malfoys.

Darlene rolled her eyes at his theatrics, lifting the basin of water and making sure Colette was paying attention when she told her to undress so she could complete the last step. Narcissa assisted her, watching out of the corner of her eye as Darlene took a small packet of indigo powder and poured it into the water and vanishing the packet when it was empty. She then raised her arm to her lips, bit into it until it was raw and bleeding, and then held it directly over the center of the basin, allowing 9 drops of what Narcissa supposed was her blood despite the strange color. It was red, but it seemed to be paler than any blood she had ever seen before.

Colette shivered a little and drew her thin legs up to her flat chest to conserve warmth. Without looking up from where she was wrapping a bandage around her arm, which looked like it had been mauled by a creature with Large Teeth, Darlene said, "Move closer to the fire, hon. That's why its there."

Narcissa picked her up since she looked a little unsteady after all those injections and set her gently on the soft fibers of the rug by the fire. Colette moved a little closer, staring into the flames with fascination. Darlene pinned the bandage closed and lifted the basin of liquid, moving to sit cross-legged in front of Colette, whose eyes flickered to her with interest.

"Alright, I will now pour this over your head. It is very important that you hold still and not bathe for 3 hours afterwards. Do not wipe any of this off, or scratch. It is going to itch a little, but you mustn't take it off in any way until the 3 hours have passed. Can you do that?"

Colette nodded, seeming to brace herself and Darlene lifted the basin over her head, whispering in Latin that the liquid was released from its bonds. It ran down Colette's naked body in thick rivulets, spreading over her by its own power, entering her crevasses and making her giggle a little when it swooped up under her armpits and coated her ribs. She blinked as it covered her eyeballs, but kept them open fairly well, not even wincing when it entered her nose, ears, and a couple embarrassing places that made Narcissa's eyes widen and make a move forward. Darlene took her by the arm and made sure she didn't move from her side until Colette was shining with the clear liquid, completely covered.

"It _does _itch a little, but not bad enough to tempt me." Colette proclaimed with pride, no longer hiding behind her hair like she had been before. Narcissa saw a shadow of the spunky little girl who had constantly been getting into trouble before her death, and her eyes filled with tears. Gone was the half-dead doll, replaced with a girl she knew was more Black than Malfoy, if the hint of a smile in her eyes wasn't enough to give it away.

"Do you want me to wait the 3 hours with you or am I no longer needed?" Darlene asked, standing and moving over to her bag, the dry basin sliding inside easily along with the scattered supplies.

"Whichever you prefer, Darlene. I cannot tell you how much I appreciate this-I don't know how to repay you-"

"It's free, madam. Alert me if you ever need these kinds of services again…you can find me at the St. Mungo's Chief Office. I'm his secretary, and I work both early and late so chances are I'll be in."

"Thank you." Narcissa fiddled with her hands, still going over how she could give the redhead some kind of payment. There was a small blast of wind, and the place where Darlene had been standing was empty. She looked around, not having heard the crack of apparatation.

She was alone with her naked daughter, who was admiring the easy way her muscles moved under her healthy skin in the light of the fire.

"Thank you, God." Narcissa whispered, eyes turning heavenward and catching in the light so they looked like twin sapphires.

--

End chapter 4

Well, its long. And took me some brain-wracking and research, not to mention a lengthy interrogation of one of my sources in regards to the ceremony. I think it turned out okay. Tell me what you think 


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: in case anybody didn't know and was wondering, Sorrel is an herb.

CHAPTER 5

Maalik strolled through the woods, carefully avoiding any dangerous-looking underbrush while keeping his eyes open for the Sorrel that Bronislav had assured him grew within it. So far he hadn't seen any, and he'd been out there for an hour and wandered pretty far in the property, but he wasn't ready to give up so soon.

Then he heard a muffled laugh, and a startled gasp followed by a moan. He had apparently run across the mysterious lovers from yesterday again. He was about to walk away and try to find some Sorrel in a different area of the property when he remembered how damn _familiar _the smaller one had been (he wasn't sure of their gender since they had had long hair) and his footsteps redirected, following the noises until he found a rather nice almost nest-shaped thicket. And in the center he could see the tall brunette and the smaller one underneath, hands clutching at the brunette's shoulders and a leg crooked at the knee, almost cradling the older man as it nestled against his hip. They weren't doing anything serious, but Maalik blushed despite himself, beginning to reconsider his decision. But then the bigger one moved his head to taste the smaller one's neck, and the black-haired one arched his back and tilted his head all the way back and…_Harry?! _

His brain short-circuited, but not to the point of freezing him up. While his brain considered what this could mean and whether or not he should tell James, his body had carried him away and to a patch of Sorrel. He absently plucked the amount needed for the salad they were having that night and headed back to the house, saying he had a headache and that he would be taking a nap.

Alone at last, he replayed the memory while he washed his face of the sweat he had worked up while wandering through the woods, going over every detail. Harry's partner was obviously older, maybe in his mid or late twenties, and they had done this before. The questions he needed answered now were whether or not the man was taking advantage of Harry (he didn't think Harry would allow anybody to so much as look at him if he didn't like it though), how long they had been in this relationship, and how far they had gone. Having lost his virginity at 13 to a woman twelve years his senior, he didn't really have high standards about age-gap relationships. Hell, he was barely twenty-one and James was in his forties and they were making it work.

Lying on his back on the bed, which creaked with age, he ignored the mental images of what James had managed to do to him last night that had required a silencing spell to keep the sounds of the metal protesting from reaching the ears of anybody still awake. He shifted to his side, staring at the clock on the nightstand and wondered where Harry and his man had met. Even though he was happily devoted to James, he couldn't deny that Harry's partner was a sight to see, even from what little he had gotten a glimpse of.

There was a soft knock on the door, and he said they could come in, thinking it was James. Instead it was Harry, and there was a playful tilt to his lips. He came closer and sat cross legged on the bed, just looking at him for several minutes. Maalik began to get the uncomfortable impression that Harry knew he had watched them, and sat up to lean against the headboard.

"Did you want to say something, Harry?" he kept his face open and friendly, something he had learned in med school that was supposed to encourage free conversation. Harry had obviously picked up on that (god, why did he keep forgetting which House Harry was in?) because he smirked and began to idly pick at his scabbed-over cuticles.

"Well, I had intended to ask you if you enjoyed the show earlier."

"Show?" Shit, he knew he had been there…

"Yeah, you know the one where I was snogging my boyfriend in the woods and you walked in on us? It was very polite of you to leave so soon after you wandered in, though. It's nice to know that at least one member of my family isn't a voyeur." He grinned and Maalik immediately knew that Harry did not feel threatened in the least. "I'm assuming you have some questions?"

"Ah, yes, yes I do. If you're alright with answering them that is…"

"Ask away."

"I, uh, well, how long have you known each other?"

"Since I was about 9, although it depends on how you look at it." When Maalik looked like he was going to pursue that line of questioning, Harry wagged a finger and stated, "Sorry, won't explain that one to you."

"Alright, how long have you been, um, you know-"

"Sexually active?"

"Yeah."

"We haven't done anything too serious just yet, and the first really intimate thing we did was at the Quidditch Cup." Maalik spluttered, laughed, and exclaimed, "I thought I was imagining things! I think I sensed what you two were doing or something."

Harry laughed a little too. "It was pretty adventurous for a first time, but it was fun."

"I can see why." They grinned at each other, and Harry asked if he wanted to know anything else. Maalik sobered and quietly asked, "Is he using you? In _any _way?"

"No more than I am." Harry's voice was soft, and he turned his head to look out the window, the birds chirping sounding louder than normal. "This is to say, not at all. Neither of us could ever do that to each other."

"Good." Maalik's throat was dry, and he knew this question might raise Harry's hackles, but he had to know, "Do you love him?"

"Yes, and he loves me." His face was suddenly radiant, and his eyes sparkled when he looked at Maalik, meeting his gaze straight-on. "And that is why, no matter what things happen or what people might think, we aren't going to separate. Hell, at this point I don't think I can live without him."

--

Draco scowled at his brother and stalked back up the long winding path to the Manor, intent of taking a shower. He had been peacefully minding his own business when Julius had come out of nowhere on his damned horse and almost crushed him. For the third time that week, so he knew it couldn't be an accident anymore.

His mother stopped him just outside his bedroom, scanned his eyes (he sometimes thought she could read minds or something) silently, and then kissed his forehead and swept past him towards the door that would lead outside. He shrugged, and then grinned when he realized that she had had to tilt her head up to reach his forehead. He had had another growth spurt!

Outside, Narcissa approached her eldest and gestured for him to dismount. "Yes, mother?" He asked, trying and failing to look innocent. His transparency was very childish and grated on her nerves as neither the Blacks nor the Malfoys had ever been cursed with the genetics of a bad liar.

"I believe you know full well why I am about to forbid you from riding your horse for the next month."

"A month?! Mum, isn't that a little harsh?" He dismounted and approached, looking dejected. He stumbled a little on protruding stone and Narcissa barely restrained a snicker. Her children really were very amusing.

"No, dear, it isn't. The only harsh thing I have seen out here is you trying to kill your brother for no reason other than you don't like him. You are the heir to the family, and will be responsible for looking after your siblings should anything happen to me and your father, and I would like you to start acting your age. You are sixteen, not six, after all."

"Yes, mum." He made to move past her to put away his horse, but she clicked her tongue at him. "Now don't you think you're forgetting something, dear?"

He sighed dramatically, backpedaled, and kissed her lightly on the cheek.

"I love you too, Julius." He mock-growled at her, looking cheerier now that she had forced him to work through his emotional issues, albeit in a very subtle only-mommy-knows way.

--

End chapter 5

It's another long one …sort of. Review, please!


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: You probably don't care, but I was a little, er, tipsy last night and bashed my head on the ceiling (_long _story) and it hurts and is bleeding a little because I cracked the skin. So if there is anything really weird in this chapter, which there shouldn't be because my self-control is pretty good these days, just attribute it to that. The plot isn't going to hell, promise.

CHAPTER 6

Harry played absently with the pack of tarot cards he'd gotten for his birthday, turning them over in his hands and admiring the art. They must have been expensive because of the gilding around the edges and scattered bits in details for halos or eyes or even the Devil's pitchfork. He took a drag from his cigarette and dangled a leg over the side of his bed in boredom. Asmodeus had received a visit early that morning from a seething Michael, the Sword of God, and had been hustled off before he could do anything more than peck him goodbye on the lips. He absently touched his fingers to them, the 'Lovers' card clutched in the rest of his hand.

It was almost 2 o'clock in the afternoon and he could feel the summer heat penetrating the very ceiling to try and fry him alive. He kicked his foot covered in a sheet fitfully until it was dislodged and raised it into the air after rolling onto his stomach in a section of the bed he hadn't been on before so it was still cool to the touch. He flicked the ashes from his cigarette into the ashtray Leviathan had laughingly given him yesterday as an early birthday present, and told him all about the dangers of lung cancer. Harry had succumbed to a childish desire to flip him off, and grinned when he remembered the blonde's flabbergasted expression.

He took a sip of iced water, allowing one of the ice cubes to drift into his mouth and crunching on it, something that Asmodeus would have found obnoxious had he been there. Thoroughly depressed now, he set the water back and took a deep pull from his cigarette, resting his head on the sheets and giving his neck a break from holding it up. He was bored, and sad, and a little hungry but too tired to get up.

Summer was officially not worth the hype gotten up about it.

--

Annette fiddled nervously with the ties of her apron, trying not to make eye contact with her husband's co-worker who was standing uncomfortably close and leering at her. She was vastly pleased with her foresight to wear the high-necked dress despite it being ridiculously hot outside. Deciding that she had to be polite and not punch the man in his happy place for putting his hands on her waist and sliding them increasingly lower, she asked, "Would you like some water to drink?"

"No, missy, I'm not thirsty for water at the moment, maybe in a little while."

"Alright." She subtly tilted her hips so his hands were dislodged from the slippery fabric of her evening dress, smiling and covering the movement by moving to the ice box and withdrawing a large pitcher of lemonade. "I'm a little thirsty myself."

He nodded and moved back out to the family room (or at least it would be a family room if they were ever allowed to be a family in it). She sagged against the counter as soon as he was gone, praying with all her might that he had lost interest. She was a loyal wife, and would do almost anything to make sure that her husband could find some standing in this neighborhood, but she had to have at least some standards. Not to mention that that man had looked more grease than flesh, and this was just not appealing at all.

She poured herself a glass of lemonade and wondered what her mother would think of her now if she could see how far she had fallen. Crouching, she dug out a small bottle of vodka from under the sink and poured a liberal amount into her glass. The strength of the smell made her have to inhale deeply through her mouth for a second, and then she took a long drink of her hard lemonade, shouting to her husband that she was getting some air. She tucked the bottle into her apron pocket and slipped her feet into her sandals that were by the door waiting for her. The screen door banged shut behind her and she snickered a little for no reason, swaying as she picked a random direction and began walking in it.

--

There was a knock on the door at 10:30, p.m.

. James mumbled something rude under his breath, moving to lie on his side so his face was burrowed in Maalik's stomach instead of resting on his lap like it had earlier. When no one moved, Harry scowled and muttered, "Oh, don't everybody rush at once."

No one replied to that comment, Sirius too busy trying to coerce Regulus into going upstairs with him and into their bedroom, and the Polski brothers locked in an argument that Regulus sometimes participated in when his mouth wasn't occupied. It was on the lack of truly intelligent Ministers of Magic in the last couple hundred years, and various theories on why that was. Some of the more interesting ones were Nargles or Gargoyles eating their brains as soon as they sat in the chair of the office, a conspiracy of the Board of United Kingdom Magicks, and the ever-popular zombie theory.

The door opened silently thanks to Vladimir oiling the hinges earlier in the day, and it revealed Mrs. Bassington, looking quite sloshed and swaying dangerously. An empty bottle of vodka was clutched carelessly in one hand, and she swung it back and forth occasionally, and in the other was a dainty glass with hand-painted strawberry designs around the rim.

"Hello." She slurred, moving in very close. Her nose bumped Harry's and he snickered at the sheep-like look in her eyes. Struggling to hold in his laughter, he asked, "Annette, to what do I owe this late-night pleasure?"

"Got a little lonely." She was smiling like a child now, and Harry marveled at how he had ever thought she would be an angry drunk. She was a clingy as an excitable toddler in a room full of strangers, and she wrapped her arms around his side, clinging to him and putting almost all of her weight on him as he moved them to the living room.

"Um, guys, we have a guest." The argument, which had gotten heated enough for Vladimir to start trying to bludgeon his younger brother with a handy needlepoint pillow, was cut off. Sirius had also frozen, sprawled in his brother's lap and not looking like he wanted to get off of it anytime soon. Annette giggled at the sight, raising her empty bottle to her mouth and fruitlessly swigging it.

"All gone, Harry, all gone. Is there more?" Her eyes were hopeful, even as they wandered around the room, no longer under her control. "Why is everything spinning?"

"Nothing's spinning, ma'am. Oh, look! It's a comfy couch and nobody but I was sitting on it…do you want to sit down for just a little while?" He was used to handling a drunk Luna, so it was a piece of cake for him to maneuver her to sit on the sofa that was really more of a gloried and fluffy chair, and to plop down beside her.

"Dad, Maalik, this is our neighbor Mrs. Bassington. She stops by sometimes, although in this state is a first."

"What state?" She looked genuinely curious, even though she had directed her question to the wall and a standing lamp rather than any of the humans (or other creatures) in the room.

"I believe the term is drunk." Bronislav dryly noted, taking a sip from his wine and smiling in a friendly way. She smiled too, this time at the ceiling.

"But I'm not drunk."

"Did you drink anything?"

"A…a little teeny tiny bit…" She trailed off and then abruptly stated in the voice of a little girl, "But I'm not drunk."

"Okay, you're not drunk at all." Harry said amiably, patting her arm and slouching in his seat. He missed Asmodeus, and wished he hadn't drunk his entire stash already. His magic must be getting stronger because it had taken quite a bit to get him buzzed, and he'd had the distinct feeling of roiling flames and boiling water roaring through his insides. Not to mention that the mirror in his room had shattered.

Annette ended up staying the night, sleeping in the unused guest bedroom and awakening with the headache of the century to a tray of hot breakfast and a massive mug of coffee. Hopefully her husband wouldn't notice her absence. It wasn't like they shared a room any more, much less a bed.

--

End chapter 6

Um, drunken peoples are funny? And cute, in Annette's case.


	7. Chapter 7

CHAPTER 7

Annette made her way down the stairs, still dressed in her dress from the night before and hair in a tangled mess that curled around her shoulders and down her back. She almost dropped the tray when a large white cat with yellow eyes came out of nowhere and sat itself down in the middle of the hall directly in front of her. From the kitchen she could hear happy voices and the clanking of various kitchen utensils. The cat stared her down, its yellow eyes making her distinctly nervous. The dishes on the tray she was carrying began to rattle obnoxiously as she started to shake a little.

"Nice kitty….nice kitty…" She tried to walk around him but it just growled. She froze, mind recalling a certain horrifying childhood memory in which a kitten had clawed her clear across the face; she had been five years old and the scar had lasted into junior high.

Harry suddenly appeared in the doorframe of the kitchen like some kind of knight in shining armor, spied the cat, and rushed over, scooping him up and burying his face in its fur.

"Raito, you came back!" The cat was a purring ball of fluff now, curling in the boy's arms and not looking like he wanted to leave them anytime soon. It batted at Harry's fringe playfully and twisted its body so its face was right next to the boy's. Harry backtracked to the kitchen and called out that he was going upstairs to take care of his cat. The reply was somewhat garbled but Annette was fairly sure that she had heard several curse words in it and the sound of banging crockery increased. Harry grinned as he passed her, mouthing, "Good morning."

He disappeared up the stairs and she shrugged. Children were certainly odd these days.

--

Safe in his room, Harry set Raito down and locked his door, making a dive for the bed where Asmodeus had made himself comfortable afterwards. He landed right next to him and raised himself on his elbows so he could hover over him as they kissed, breaking apart after a moment or two.

"Missed you." Asmodeus whispered, running his hands down Harry's arms and grinning when Harry stuck out his tongue. "Not as much as I missed you. Where did you go?"

"Bah, Lucifer needed some shit done and decided to use me instead of Belphegar. Not that Belphe ever does _anything, _if you get what I mean."

"Is he the, um, Demon of Laziness or something?"

"Pretty much. Slothfulness, if you're a prig who wants specifics."

"Well, I consider myself something of a prig when it comes to stuff like this, so thank you for providing the correct terminology." Harry smirked and leaned in nip his ear.

"Very glad to have been of some sort of service to you."

"Oh, you should be. I am now undeniably indebted to you."

"Are you now? Whatever will you do to pay it off?" There was a playful lilt to his voice, and he lifted a heavy lock of Harry's jet black hair in his fingers, letting it slide through them like silk.

"I'm not sure. What would you like?"

"A loyal slave."

"You've already got that. Pick something else."

"Hmm…I can't think of anything."

"Aw! Now what will we do?"

"You could come a little closer." Harry smiled in assent and shifted around until he was lying on his chest, chin resting on his arms.

"Better?"

"Much." Harry kissed his temple and moved his arms from under his chin to wrap around his neck. They stayed like that for several hours, not speaking much other than to note that the sun was pretty hot today and exchanging a few chaste kisses.

--

Julius stalked through the family library, trying to find something to do. He would normally be spending this time with the horses or with his friends, but he was being punished and his friends had all decided to go out of the country for the holidays. Coming across the less visited areas, he smiled when he saw Draco sitting on the floor, back propped against a wall and knees supporting a large grimoire that he was scribbling notes about in a packet of parchment bound with string. His quill bobbed with his strokes, moving rapidly across the page in time with his brother's large grey eyes.

He looked up, acknowledging him with a brief nod, and returned to his project. Bored enough to try and be nice because God only knew what his mother would do if she caught him harassing Draco. Probably sell his favorite horse to a glue factory or something.

"What are you working on?" He pulled out one of the reading chairs and sat on it backwards, legs spread and using his arms as a chin-rest.

"Something to show a friend of mine; it's about the Dark Lord Nadir's plague. I think I might have found the base spellwork he used to construct it, and if we can reverse it and alter it a little, we might be able to purify the blood of those with it still in their veins."

"What, like, curing Squibs?" he hated to admit it, but his younger brother was certainly the smart one in the family.

"Yes, but not just them. Everybody who's ever had a disability in magic or was damaged from an offensive spell could now have hoped of regaining what they've either never known or thought lost."

"Wow."

"Yeah." Draco actually smiled at him and then folded up his parchments and marked his place in the grimoire before setting it to the side with a stack of books on dark lords and magical plagues. "Did you have a reason for being down here?"

Julius swallowed. His brother was often scarily similar to his mother and he always felt a little threatened by those eyes, like they could see his hopes and dreams and even his very soul.

"I, well, I wanted to…"

"Wanted to what?" Draco gently prodded when he trailed off.

"Wanted to say I'm sorry about being such a prick to you."

"It's okay. I'm hardly innocent, after all, so it would be hypocritical of me to hold a grudge about that."

They smiled at each other and Julius asked if he needed any help. Draco handed him a book and asked him to bookmark anything about Nadir he found.

--

End chapter 7

Wow, 7 already?


	8. Chapter 8

CHAPTER 8

It was the day before the wedding, and Maalik couldn't seem to either sit still or stop smiling. James wasn't in a much better state, fidgeting until Harry was sure he wouldn't get a wink of sleep that night since his father would be sharing a bed with him in an attempt to create the proper virginal air for the 'bride'.

Harry had been right. James lay down in the bed, but constantly shifted around for a better position, not to mention randomly starting up conversations. Hell, if Raito hadn't started to hiss and growl, finally actually sitting on his father's face, he wouldn't even have gotten the measly 2 hours he milked out of the stunned silence. Thank god Harry didn't need a lot of sleep; otherwise he would have been a lot bitchier and entirely unable to keep his eyes open as he poured himself some coffee, hair sticking up every which way more than usual from holding a pillow over his ears once James managed to remove Raito.

Seating himself on one of the benches resting against the wall in the kitchen, he leaned his head back against the slightly peeling floral-print wallpaper, fingers cradling his large mug as he watched his various family members running around trying to prepare food before the various guests the Polskis had invited arrived, and not to mention the minister. The wards had been altered to allow that kind of traffic, kind of like what they had done for Annette. Speaking of Annette, she walked in the door right that moment, holding what looked like a plum pudding with extra plums and a teenaged boy behind her who Harry recognized as her son from pictures (he'd forgotten that this was the week between summer camps that he was around), struggling under the weight of a sizable platter of meat. Harry set his coffee down and got up to help him, grinning in welcome at Annette. She grinned back just as wide and Harry was happy to see that she seemed more relaxed instead of her usual tense self.

"How are you today, Harry?"

"Harried."

She snickered and set her pudding on the counter to free her arms so she could give the men their customary hugs. Once she had gotten used to all of them, she had revealed a bubbly and carefree aspect of her personality that was almost dazzling at times.

The door opened again and the strangely-dressed woman called Maggie who was a friend of Bronislav came inside, followed by a middle-aged man who looked like he still had quite the fighting spirit beneath his cover of propriety and a petite but strangely regal Asian woman.

"Broni!" Maggie squealed, making a sort of mad dash for him, leaping up and wrapping her arms around his neck to plant a sloppy kiss on his cheek. She then pulled back as if burned when he was about to return it. Planting her hands on her hips, she demanded, "Why didn't you call me?!"

Bronislav sighed and combed his hair back from his eyes with a distracted air. "Maggie, we go through this every time I see you. I don't and cannot obtain a goddamned telephone. And the pay phones in town only take the kind of money I don't have to throw around."

Maggie pouted and then her features cleared. "Okay, how about you write me instead?"

Harry hid his grin behind his coffee mug, elbowing Vladimir in the ribs playfully. "How long have they known each other?" He whispered.

"Way too long. All the private jokes are starting to get scary." Vlad whispered back, and Harry noticed for the first time that he was wearing a suit instead of his usual jeans and t-shirt and gave him an approving look. "You look nice."

"Thanks! I haven't worn a suit in years and I was worried about it still fitting."

"You're not fat!" Harry exclaimed, giving him a look-over. Vladimir laughed and said, "Actually, I lost a lot of weight and I didn't want to look shitty for your dad's wedding. You don't look so bad yourself."

"Thank you. Do you want some coffee? I can't finish mine…" He held out the mug and the Vampire accepted it, taking a deep sip.

Harry disappeared out the back door and wandered into the woods until he was alone. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his packet of cigarettes, lighting one and taking a walk around the property, still remaining carefully out of sight, examining the house and the wards wrapped around it.

--

The ceremony was short and sweet, and Maalik kissed James to catcalls and sighs, the latter coming from Maggie and the Asian woman, whose name Harry had learned was Bo-Bae.

"Ah, love." Maggie whispered dramatically into Bo-Bae's ear, making her giggle and stifle it behind a handkerchief embroidered with golden butterflies. Her bangles jangled and Augustus turned to scowl at them from the row in front of their bench.

The wedding itself was being held outside, and most of the benches had been dragged out and mixed with folding chairs to seat the bizarre people who had come out of the woodwork to see it. Harry saw that at least a third were Vampires, and powerful ones at that.

Once James and Maalik had walked down the aisle arm in arm, Harry waved Luna over so she could attach herself to him eagerly, Raphael and her father engaged in a discussion about champagne versus white wine. Apparently exposure to the Angel had helped him to begin the process of threading his mind back together.

They managed to snag some champagne themselves from the kitchen, sticking to the shadows and sipping it while she related how she'd been and a trip to Italy Pansy had dragged her and her father on where she had gotten to sneak off to Greece and meet some oracles. The oracles had invited her and her father to stay an additional week with them after the Parkinson family had left, Pansy somehow ending up babysitting her younger sister Bryony while her parents made eyes at each other and went on romantic walks and wine tasting.

Finishing their champagne, Luna convinced Harry to dance one dance with her until Raphael managed to untangle himself from an enthusiastic dancing Bo-Bae, who had drained an entire bottle of champagne in under an hour. It was a wonder she hadn't gotten alcohol poisoning or at the very least passed out.

Harry somehow ended up dancing with Maalik for most of the reception, as James had twisted his ankle trying to carry him down the stairs after they'd changed while Raphael bound it tight enough for him to land safely after using the Portkey that would take them to their honeymoon location in New York. Why they wanted to go there Harry still didn't know. Maybe they _liked _being around human depravity?

--

End chapter 8

Quick note: personally, I LOVE cities, New York, London, Tokyo, and Chicago in particular. Harry's derision is meant to be humorous, not offensive to NYC dwellers.

Review, please!


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: if you haven't heard the Gnarls Barkley track 'Smiley Faces', go listen to it now. Now, dammit! And while you're at it, check out 'Who's Gonna Save My Soul' as well, which is also by them. Have fun 

CHAPTER 9

The house was quieter once James and Maalik left for the airport, and Harry surveyed the wreckage the guests had left in their wake with a critical eye, Luna doing the same beside him but ruining the effect a little with the way she was swaying on her feet. Since everybody else was either passed out drunk or had fucked off to get ice cream, Harry considered it safe to cast some wandless organization charms Draco had modified and taught the entire house the day before they left so at least some of the yearly confusion abated since one of the charms found your belongings for you.

A fetid stench clung to the bathroom, and Harry knew that some of the guests must have been smoking something other than tobacco in it. He resolved to stay 'clean' to escape the smell alone. He cast a freshening charm and manually changed the towels, adding the soiled towels to the dirty laundry pile Luna had started and emptying the garbage into the bag he was carrying around. It was getting a little heavy but he didn't use a lightening charm so he could build up some endurance. How would he ever be able to defend himself with his body if he couldn't even stand the weight of a simple garbage bag?

Finally, when they had started and finished several loads of laundry and the last one was in the dryer, they collapsed on the couch next to Maggie. She had curled herself into a little ball and was half-on a dozing Raphael. His grey eyes blinked open and closed several times, and he sent an approving look to the teenagers for doing a good job cleaning up without being told. Luna's only response was faint breathing as she slept, cuddled around a pillow with a pine tree design on it that Harry knew to be especially soft. Shrugging, he tucked his legs under him and summoned some Franz Kafka to read until he fell asleep.

His last thought before giving in to Morpheus was to wonder where Asmodeus had disappeared off to.

--

Asmodeus scowled darkly at Lucifer, who looked utterly unrepentant about breaking his promise to allow him time off because of his relations with Harry.

"So I'm sure you'll have no difficulty in…_persuading _the EVA to sign the contract whatsoever. After all, last I checked, you had a sort of rapport with Jacinthe and I believe we all remember what sort of power she has over Eirikr's judgment. What could go wrong?"

"Maybe the fact that they have been involved for several hundred years already and have been known to have explosive arguments that last for months and usually end in him banishing her to Greenland and then pursuing her to win back her affections once he cools his temper?"

Lucifer blinked. "I, uh, I didn't know that. I had thought that, considering the length of their involvement to this day, they would have sorted out their issues by now."

"Considering what I heard recently from some wandering Grigori, they are still as fiery as ever."

They paused to snicker at the idea of old-fashioned Vampire reactions to fires before sobering and continuing their discussion, Lucifer clearing his throat and saying, "Perhaps it is best that you discover what the present condition of their relationship is before proposing the treaty."

"Agreed; when is the latest I can give this to you? I am not above matchmaking if this is urgent, which I'm going to assume it is because you thought it important enough to drag me away from my peaceful existence on Earth."

Lucifer looked away guiltily and Asmodeus clenched his fists, looking like he was about to kill him, if Demons could be killed that is. He turned and stalked out of the room, the carefully rolled sheets of blackened paper crumpling from the force of his grip and the wax seal even melting slightly.

--

The sheets of paperwork seemed endless; a good amount of stacks ending up on the floor now that he had run out of desk space, mingling with the disorganized books and trinkets that had been removed in the first place to prevent such an occurrence. His quill scratched obnoxiously across the parchment, the feather bobbing and tickling his chin as he scribbled reports and signed requests. The assistants sent to help him were harried and panting from the exertion of running up and down the halls and stairs (the faulty elevators had completely gone out of order just in time, of course), hastily delivering the finished products to equally flushed secretaries and sometimes the officials themselves.

It was inspection time at the Ministry for the Dark, and the usual hubbub was heightened by the election of a new Ministerial Board candidates getting settled in their new offices, (the Founders had decided that having just one Minister was unfair. They had 7 instead) including the recently-escaped ex-Dark Lord Gellert Grindelwald who had been allowed to partake in the election once he was proven to have been framed and accused falsely of most of his crimes. Not that a criminal record would have affected his chances in the race, merely the racist charges upsetting a good fraction of their usual customers.

Augustus took a deep gulp of coffee, quill not pausing as he filled out a mandatory questionnaire regarding his satisfaction of lack thereof of his working space. He was making a large dent in the accumulated paperwork, half of the floor now visible. Or at least it had been mostly visible until one of the older assistants had fainted from dehydration on his carpet. He considered waking him up, but he really didn't have the extra 2 minutes to do so. 4 other young people had tripped over him in their various comings and goings to fetch his finished projects.

Who should step into all this chaos but Maggie, looking like the cat that caught the canary. Augustus groaned, knowing that look was never one that boded well for him.

"Gussie darling…" She sing-songed, tilting her head to the side. "I need an itsy-bitsy favor."

"Oh, burn in hell Maggie." He grinned at her, gesturing at one of the employees to get him some more coffee.

--

End chapter 9

Oh, Gellert is rising in the world. That wouldn't happen to have anything whatsoever to do with The Plot, now would it? ;)

Cookies to whoever can guess how this whole thing is gonna end.


	10. Chapter 10

CHAPTER 10

When Harry woke up he was in his bed and a heavy arm was flung over his waist, deep breaths from someone other than himself brushing against his bare shoulder blades, directly in a spot where he knew his boyfriend liked to rest his head. Turning his head a little and cracking his neck in the process, Harry caught sight of the Demon's tousled brown hair out of the corner of his eye and smiled. He must have carried him up to the bed.

To show his gratitude (anybody who has ever slept sitting up on a chesterfield sofa knows full well the sort of aches and pains one wakes with) for such consideration, he wriggled in just the right way until he was able to turn himself to face him without dislodging his arm from its resting place. Asmodeus made a sort of sigh and rested his head gently against the delicate bone between Harry's ribs.

Harry smoothed his head and relaxed back into sleep, missing the hidden smile on Asmodeus' face.

--

The stairs creaked a little under his feet as he headed for the kitchen, and Harry tucked Euclid under his arm so he could grab the railing as he descended. Who knew what the guests had done to the steps as they caroused, and he was the last one to want a twisted ankle. Broken spines he could take, but he was rather attached to his feet being the way they ought and his guardians were the type to make annoying jokes such as 'like father, like son' for months after the injury healed. A delicious smell hit his nostrils and he could tell Raito had caught it as well because he mewed and bounded down the last 4 stairs to enter the kitchen, affectionately attaching himself to Bronislav's leg and purring when the doctor gave him a few pieces of bacon to chomp on as well as a pat on his furry head.

Harry entered and grinned at his familiar as he delicately savored the meat strips. Vladimir managed only a faint groan when Harry greeted him and he laughed a little. The kettle was filled with boiling water for tea, and Harry made some of Vlad's favorite, adding a small packet of an herb mixture Pansy and he had worked on for Potions last year when the final assignment had been to create a cure for a common illness. They had been the only ones to make something that actually worked other than that Granger female, and her cure was for tooth aches which were far less exciting by far than a cure for hangovers. The best part about it was all of the ingredients were common and easy to get their hands on, so they were intent on making it in massive batches and peddling it to the older students come next school year.

A few bites of toast, a small tomato, and 4 slices of bacon later, Harry was sitting comfortably on the bench beside the window, legs tucked neatly under him and Asmodeus curled into the curve of his calf and munching on the last piece of meat. Vladimir was looking far better now that he had gotten the alcohol out of his system and was reading the local news, taking the liberty of drinking out of his brother's coffee mug when he wasn't paying attention.

"So, do you have any plans for today?" Broni broke the silence, eyes kind as he turned to his ward.

Harry shrugged, thinking of the batches of herbs he was drying in the attic and needed to deal with soon before they got moldy from errant rain water. "I've got a small project I started with a friend that I need to work on, but I'll be around if you need me for anything. What about you?"

"Well, Regulus managed to get a job as a bartender in town, so I might check on him and Sirius is still looking for work and would like some help because our systems are different from those in the magical world."

Harry nodded thoughtfully, fingers idly tracing the imprinted words on the cover of his book. They descended into peaceful silence once more and Harry took a sip of Broni's coffee, making him smack his shoulder lightly for 'disrespect'.

--

The herbs were mold-free and responded properly to his enthusiastic pestle smashing, which sped up the process. He managed to get 5 large batches in before being called downstairs to help make lunch because Annette and her son were joining them.

Pots banging and muffled curses reached his ears upon entrance, and he raised his eyebrows at the sight of Sirius half-buried inside the cupboard under the stove, stacks of pots surrounding him.

"Um, are you looking for something?" He asked softly, washing his hands in the sink and then opening the crisper to pull out the chicken left over from yesterday that they were going to add to the soup.

"Yes!" Sirius suddenly shouted, making Harry jump and look at him strangely. Held aloft in the man's hand was a large pot with a matching lid.

At a loss for what else to say, he whispered, "How nice."

--

"I think I'll pass on that particular vacation spot." Maggie snarked, sitting on his desk now regardless of the stack of paper she had decided to rest her butt on.

"Suit yourself, but I've heard Hell can actually be quite pleasant, if you haven't done anything seriously wrong and the Demons don't have any issues with you, which they most definitely will considering that stunt you pulled last time somebody almost killed you." Augustus did not pause in his writing, filling out reports at a new record pace and driving his secretaries and assistants into fits trying to deal with it all at once.

"True, true. At the very least it would get me away from all the too-nice Angelic beings out to eat my soul and recycle it as Grigori food…"

"Indeed." Augustus paused for a mere half-second to replace his pile of work, now having completed 2/3 of the mass. "So what is this favor you need?"

"You know how to contact a certain half-half Angel, right?"

"I know several. Which one do you mean?"

"The Arch-Angel Raphael if possible."

"Ah, he's been off the radar, so to speak, lately. Haven't seen or heard him in any of his usual haunts. I think he might have been redeemed and rehabilitated back to you-know-where."

"Goddammit!" Maggie cursed, getting off the desk and pacing, ignoring the still passed out body sprawled on the thinning carpet.

"I believe you mean the opposite of that, Mags." Gussie unhelpfully supplied, slurping his coffee that an aide handed him to replace his previous one. Against her will Maggie sniggered, removing a large book from her purse while her shoulders continued to shake.

"Well, if you see him, give him this for me, will you?"

"Of course. Anybody you don't want seeing this?"

"Anybody who might want to use it."

"I understand." They pecked each other on the cheeks before she stalked out, suede heels clicking on the stone corridor outside, bag swinging in a carefree way so characteristic of its owner on her shoulder.

She abruptly disappeared in a loud crack and faint fumes of wormwood.

--

Somewhere deep inside the secret places of Hell something resting on a nest of shredded Human flesh and bones stirred and cracked open, a beautiful Creature with large leathery wings fanning out from its shoulders slowly raising its head to sit up straight. Two bright specks of blue light shone where its eyes should have been if its face was visible.

In his office Lucifer stood surrounded by shattered glass fragments, bleeding profusely in thick blue streams from both wrists and a sizable stake made of smoked yew wood buried straight through where his heart would be had his Human body been solid rather than a clever illusion. He was smiling.

--

End chapter 10

Like it? Review! Thousands of people read this, but less than 2 actually tell me what you do and don't like about it….spare a second to tell me, yes?


	11. Chapter 11

CHAPTER 11

Summer seemed to have hardly begun when it was over, and Harry once again stood on the platform 9 ¾ with his trunk beside him and a sleepy Raito draped around his shoulders like a particularly nice scarf; one that purred and had eaten his lunch by accident in the car on the way over to Kings Cross. Harry scowled at the large yellow eyes attempting to beg forgiveness, and refused to be moved.

Turning and waving to his dad and Maalik, who had met them at the platform despite still being on honeymoon, a final time, he boarded the train and lugged his trunk to an empty compartment. Putting it on the shelf above the benches and strapping it down, he yelped when Asmodeus abruptly transformed and wrapped his arms around him, resting his head on his shoulder from behind.

"Still mad at me?"

Harry gritted his teeth. He would not give in, dammit! "Yes." He finally managed to growl, moving away with some difficulty and absently wondering if everybody was that comfortable to be held by, and if so, how in the hell did married people manage to get out of bed in the morning? He had enough problems as it was, and the strong incentive to avoid getting caught at all costs was pretty much the only thing that managed to convince him that lying in bed for the rest of his life with Asmodeus wrapped around him was not such a good idea.

"What can I do to fix it?" Asmodeus pleaded, sitting respectfully on the other side of the bench and keeping his eyes wide and honest. Harry stuck out his tongue at him and turned his head to look out the window.

"Just don't do it again." Hearing the forgiveness in Harry's voice, Asmodeus considered it appropriate to pounce on him despite where they were and the imminent danger of someone walking in. Harry grudgingly allowed the embrace, fingers curling around the arms possessively.

--

Arriving at the school eventually, Harry blithely pointed out the Dementors that headmaster had placed around the school to protect them from some murderer that had escaped to his classmates, grinning when they spent most of the Sorting staring at the ceiling in rapt horror while the ghostly forms of the life-sucking Creatures floated overhead.

Harry turned the page in Gilgamesh, clapping when someone got sorted into his House quickly before returning his attention to the book. Draco moved a little closer, reading over his shoulder. Pansy was passed out next to the blond, head burrowed into her arms and groaning when she heard clapping. Apparently she had messed up her last batch of their cure for hangovers, ate some, and had given herself one that kicked the ass of any headache she'd ever had. Millicent was sympathetically rubbing her back and shoulders, and Daphne was occupied in examining the remains of what Pansy had thrown up and placed in a sanitary bag sealed tightly with magic, trying to divine what had gone wrong and how to fix it.

Blaise and Ted weren't really paying attention to their surroundings, engaged in a fierce game of tarot readings. So far both of them were destined to die at the age of 12. Considering that they were both 15, they assumed that the deck had been obtained from Trelawney's office. This suspicion was confirmed after questioning Greg, who had been the one to fling the deck at them to shut up their constant whining about being bored.

Slytherin gained two new students, an all new low, and they looked more like skittish Hufflepuffs than the usual deadly snakes they received. "We're a dying breed." Draco murmured, distastefully eyeing the new recruits.

Harry nodded in assent. Something needed to be done about that, and soon. Slytherins may be cunning, but they couldn't afford to be so grossly outnumbered. He would need to strengthen his house's ties with the other friendlier ones, and fast.

The Sorting was finished, and the Headmaster, looking as barmy and demented as always, rose to the podium and made his usual short speech. Or at least he attempted to but was cut off by a frightful little woman with a face that looked like it had been deformed to partially resemble a rather large Toad. Perched on her tightly curled hair was a large blindingly pink bow.

Harry had a very bad feeling about this, and every word she spoke only made him tenser. He hated Ministry people! Who did they think they were, restricting student's educations like that?

When she was finished, the applause was very unenthusiastic and scattered. No one at Slytherin even bothered to meet her eyes when they scanned distastefully over their table. But as soon as she had turned to the Gryffindor table they simultaneously glared. The effect was powerful enough for several of the hollow glass beads hanging around her neck to shatter.

--

Mammon felt the disturbance in Hell, groaned, and stalked off to Lucifer's office, fearing the worst but expecting the best. Passing Satan, he gestured for him to come as well.

The trek into the freezing underground office had never seemed so long, and Mammon resisted the urge to simply appear there. One had to be especially careful when patterns of Magick were that strong, and he using the short way could do far more damage than being late. Satan's muscles flexed from his nervous clenching and unclenching of his fists, practically humming with pent-up energy beside him.

Leviathan wordlessly joined them when they passed by his working area, leaving half of himself behind to complete a certain love circle that would eventually shatter a company whose proceeds would then be divided amongst family members instead of going to charity and doing good.

They arrived at the place, and Leviathan carefully opened the door, his palm flat against the smoking and blackened wood. It creaked a little, but opened and revealed the Prince of Darkness sprawled on his back on the frozen stone, eyes wide and staring at the ceiling sightlessly.

He was smiling.

--

Narcissa smiled at her husband after he'd kissed her, allowing his arm to slip under hers as he led her into the banquet hall the Ministry was using for its annual welcome back dinner. They seated themselves at their table, Narcissa shrugging off her sequined shawl and hanging her purse on the edge of the chair. Lucius grinned at her and she mock-scowled, knowing he was wordlessly mocking her for being so fastidious about the way she arranged herself.

He ordered wine and they remained in comfortable silence, seemingly unable to stop grinning at each other, which was so out of character that the dignitaries sitting on their sides moved as far away from them as the chairs would allow. The Malfoys retaliated by taking full advantage of the space, Lucius spreading his legs and laying his token cane on the seat beside him and removing his suit coat, crossing his ankles under the table while Narcissa fanned out her full skirt until their neighbors couldn't think of returning to their previous places lest they tear the delicate sheer over-layer embroidered with swans.

The reason they were so damned pleased with themselves was because Narcissa was pregnant.

--

End chapter 11

Whoo! Babies! :P


	12. Chapter 12

A/N: Thank you to everyone who has reviewed anonymously. I love you just as much and wish I could reply. You in particular, DemonObsessed, so I hope this author's note suffices as a proper reply. To answer your questions, the thing about the majority of Magical society being homophobic is true. It is based off of our own world. The media may be giving a lot of screen-time and acceptance to the gay subculture, but the citizens are as opposed as ever. The Wizarding world isn't any different, which means that there are people who will still be accepting of the gay aspect of Harry, but most of the people won't. Maalik and James can't have a normal life because both are fugitives from the law, and James isn't even classified as alive. Their marriage wasn't legal in the magical world, so they used a Muggle contract from one of the countries that allows that. I know Canada allows it, so that might be an option. Think whichever option you like 

I'm sorry for the confusion about Maalik's schooling. I forget to take notes and contradict myself sometimes, which is why there will be a re-write to clean all this up when I've completed the series. Maalik was home schooled, but holds many of the characteristics of a Hufflepuff. Hope I covered everything…feel free to ask me anything else you've been wondering about.

CHAPTER 12

The Slytherins practically hummed with curious energy, the four walls of the DADA classroom barely seeming able to contain them. They had heard reports of horribly degraded books, and from what Harry had seen when he was doing his usual preliminary studying did not bode well with him. The spells contained barely classified as defense, much less as dangerous, and there was no where in the text where it specified the students were supposed to practice the spells hands-on.

There was a loud "Hem-hem." Any students not paying attention started, and began to arrange their books into the correct study positions. Harry eyed the pink robes with a faint sneer, fingers slowly tearing the fibers from his quill into tiny pieces. He was trying to quit his bad habit of doing the same thing to his fingers, since several students had already come up to him and told him that if he needed to 'talk' they were there for him. He didn't want people thinking he had issues or something. There were enough strange rumors as it was, and the last thing he needed was Dumbledore's curiosity getting peaked up again and to have one of his goons spying on him.

"Now, children, I would like you to quiet down." The class was already silent, and Harry's lip curled in disgust when he noticed the vast amount of kitten paraphernalia coating her desk. A strong desire to burn it all filled him suddenly, and he barely got it under control in time. There was a brief flare of some kind that caught Professor Umbridge's attention, and she turned her head to see what had happened to her precious collection. Not seeing anything, she blinked and then continued a welcome speech about how children were being exposed to dangers beyond their capacity and how the Ministry was going to stop that and return things to the way they had once been. In a nutshell, she was going to control the flow of magic allowed to students, which was essential to their development by the way, for the sake of some out-dated morals that hadn't been used since the magical equivalent of Queen Victoria. Harry groaned.

Apparently his unenthusiastic noise didn't make Umbridge very happy, because her 'happy' façade dropped for a second and she snapped, "Detention, young man, for disrespect!" Her voice reached a very high pitch on the last word that made everyone flinch.

"Yeah, sure, whatever." Harry muttered, running a hand through his hair and slouching. His father had mentioned that he had a fairly clean record, and how amazed he was considering the Potter reputation for getting in trouble. Apparently his great-grandfather had been the legendary student who set two professors on fire, supposedly on accident, and blew up the Potion's lab more times than could be counted as well as was seen with a grand total of 250 different girls after hours. Add to that that his grandfather had burned half the hospital wing when attempting to cheer an ailing friend with a cheap party trick that got a little out of control and flung multiple people into the Lake to 'demonstrate' the Squid's friendly personality to first years. And of course James had been the founder of the Marauders, whose very mention still made a twitch appear in some of the Professor's cheeks and eyebrows.

It wasn't like his guardians would be upset if he screwed with a teacher's mind a little. Especially this one, who clearly deserved it. He had the feeling that she was the sort of person who would expel students for the smallest and most insignificant reasons. A true sadist always needed to be put in their place, and he could see that she would need some prodding and the sooner he started the better.

"Silence!" She screamed despite Harry not having said anything, and he raised an eyebrow at her. She looked slightly unnerved and he held in a snicker. Someone wasn't used to children thinking for themselves, apparently. Maybe he should tone it down a little?

--

The lesson had been gruelingly boring, and Draco was moaning about not being able to feel his brain while Daphne stumbled along beside her boyfriend Ted, looking like an Inferi or Muggle Zombie.

"You know, I don't think I learned _anything _in there." Vincent murmured at lunch, taking a large bite of his sandwich and getting smacked on the arm by Millicent, who hissed that it was rude to take such big mouthfuls. He looked properly chastised and ate as daintily as a little girl for the rest of the meal under Draco's rapt gaze. Apparently the blond had never seen his friend execute good manners before and was now as fascinated as scientists watching a monkey quote Shakespeare. Pansy had to nudge him several times to remind him that he was supposed to be eating lunch.

"Same here." Harry muttered, a brilliant idea suddenly roaring to life in his mind. "Hey, wait a minute!"

They stared at him, wondering what he had eaten. They didn't see any coffee or Treacle Tart, so it couldn't be either of the usual causes.

"If she isn't going to let us make any progress, we should create a way for students who want to learn to be able to obtain a proper education."

"Yeah!" Blaise enthusiastically shouted, making Millicent elbow him in the ribs, hard. Considering how bony she was now that she had lost weight, Harry knew that had to have hurt something awful. Tracey Davis patted him sympathetically on the arm and Luna reached over Greg to dump a mouthful worth of brandy into his pumpkin juice once she was sure no one who didn't approve of alcoholic minors was watching. Blaise knocked it back without a second thought while Luna sipped her heavily spiked tea calmly, eyes growing vaguer and farther away the more she ingested.

"So…what? You want to start a club or something?" Pansy drawled, stealing some of her boyfriend's lettuce while he glared at her. She ignored him, eyes focused on Harry, who looked like he was itching to write down what he was thinking. Cho, who was sitting with them to avoid a certain friend who had stolen her boyfriend, wordlessly handed him some parchment and a Muggle pen. Smiling gratefully, he remained silent as he sketched out a brief plot to find the much-spoken about Room of Requirement and use it to hold illicit meetings during which they would study and perform the spells they should be able to perform, although that had been seriously deterred by the lack of a steady professor. The multiple different teaching styles had begun to irritate him, and the incompetence he had seen from his peers in other Houses and even some members of his own irked him. What if this nameless murderer were to attack some students who had innocently gone on a walk by themselves? They would have no idea how to fight back and that was a dangerous weakness indeed.

Harry had the first sheet passed around while he did the second, and created lists of spells and charms that they should know by now, and even some rarer and almost-illegal ones that had been removed from the curriculum via Ministry bans for no reason other than they didn't like people exploring different aspects of their magical aura.

His friends nodded, showing that they liked the idea. They would be called the Defense Association, Harry decided after they brain stormed for a little while. Harry numbered the pages of his plan and titled it. They would circulate it with care throughout possibly sympathetic parties as the months went on and see how many members they could get. The sooner they found the Room of Requirement the better, and a dozen eyes are better than two as they say.

--

Two days later and classes were still insufficient and they had a total number of 53 students fiercely searching for the Room so they could begin learning something exciting.

It was Ginny Weasley who finally discovered it, having been wandering around the third floor (hey, is it on the third floor? I have no idea) in search of a place where she could be alone. After pacing a particular hall for a while, she'd felt more than heard a soft rumbling sound just a few feet away. Turning to investigate, since that was the sort of thing Gryffindors did, she saw a tall set of double doors with gleaming gold handles. Grinning, already guessing what she had discovered and barely able to keep from running off and telling Luna about what she had found, she opened the doors and found a peaceful sitting room with just the right space for her to spread out her materials and get some serious studying done. Finding herself wanting a nap a bit more since she had stayed up late last night, she watched in awe as the room transformed into the sort of bedroom she'd always wanted but knew she could never have because of her family's monetary state. Stepping outside, she memorized its location and sprinted off to tell one of their 'allies'.

Coming across Daphne and Millicent in the girl's bathroom, she whispered the news and it's location to them, watching their wide eyes with something like glee. Next stop was the library where she knew Harry would have inevitably ensconced himself in some dark corner, most likely with several friends. Finding his favorite cubby hole, she raised her eyebrows when she saw him fast asleep, head pillowed in his arms and an enormous white cat just as far gone on the floor on his foot. He was alone, if one didn't count his affectionate familiar, which was kind of unusual. Feeling rotten even though what she had to say was important, she gently shook his shoulder.

His eyes snapped open and he grabbed her arm, twisting it until she fell flat on her back on the carpet of the library worn thin from centuries of students trotting on it. "Owww…" she moaned, clutching her shoulder where it had smacked against the table.

"Oh my god, Ginny, I'm so sorry!" Harry crouched over here, eyes bottle green and almost seemingly to glow as he stared at her, obviously worried and apologetic. "Did I hurt you bad?"

"I've had worse." Ginny muttered, sitting up and cracking her spine.

"But that doesn't make it okay for me to have done that." Ginny laid a hand on his arm and calmly said, "Harry, you have some kick ass reflexes." He grinned.

"So, what did you want to talk to me about?"

--

Lucifer's 'body' had long dissolved into the pliable smoke that it had been made from, and Mammon wondered what form he had taken now and where the hell was he anyway?

--

In the Ministry of the Dark, a faint shadow began to materialize in a corner, blending with the natural darkness. Twin yellow eyes opened and examined it's surroundings. There were 7 chairs in a circle with a circular table in the middle piled high with paperwork, empty coffee mugs, and ancient literature. A lone figure with a thick blond braid over their shoulder was scratching away at the work, its hunched posture revealing that they had been there a while. Lucifer felt his new body begin to finalize its process by adding clothes, and finally boots. Plastering on an inquisitive smile, he stepped from the shadows silently and entered the circle of chairs, seating himself directly across from the blonde.

They looked up, apparently having picked up the movement out of the corner of their eye, and Gellert gasped before he could muffle it when he saw an ageless man with eyes of amber sitting in a chair warded to boil the blood within the veins of whoever sat in it deliberately knowing whose it was. And right about now his insides should be turning themselves inside out.

There was no sign of pain or discomfort in the face of the stranger, and a creeping sensation crawled down Gellert's spine. He was used to the unexplained and the dangerous, but this man, if indeed he was a man, sent something icy straight through his blood, freezing him. He couldn't even flinch when the stranger reached into his skin and withdrew a gleaming knife free of bodily fluids.

"Now, Mr. Grindelwald, I have heard many things about you and I know more about you than your own mother, and there is a great discrepancy between the two. If you would like the record set straight permanently and the one who sullied your reputation dealt with as he deserves, simply ask. However, in payment, I would like your…."

--

End chapter 12

Review!


	13. Chapter 13

CHAPTER 13

…silence on this matter and that you have seen me at all. I'm somewhat notorious and the worst thing that could happen right now is the confirmation of multiple disturbing rumors. In addition to this, I need a small favor." Lucifer handed him the knife, and Gellert managed to rouse himself enough to catch it. He very nearly dropped it, his hands giving spasms once his flesh made contact with it, but he resolutely tightened his grip.

"Very good." The stranger purred, seating himself back on the other side of the table. "What you are holding will allow you to make contact with me should you need to, and the way to use it is to simply cut three straight lines into your forearm. It's a very straightforward and simple process, so you shouldn't have any problem using it. Also, I wouldn't recommend you go anywhere without it. The Ministry is still looking for you, and they have hired several hit wizards and even employed Dementors to catch you."

From the way his eyes widened, Lucifer could immediately tell that he hadn't known that the large amount of Dementors on the prowl were out for his sake.

"I can see that you understand what I mean. Now, in regards to my favor…" He paused to inspect his nails, buffing them on the front of his robes as he continued, "I would cordially request you to kill several people for me that I really don't have the time to deal with by myself, and to monitor a last one."

Gellert nodded, internally sighing with relief. He wouldn't have been surprised if this man asked for his soul or something.

"The ones I need killed are Walden McNair and the current Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge. His incompetence is no longer amusing or in my favor, so he must be disposed of. I will make the arrangements for a far more fortuitous replacement myself."

"And the one you want watched?"

"Harry Potter, son of the infamous and supposedly deceased James Potter. One of my subordinates is very attached to the boy, and I had at first attributed certain anomalies in the boy's magic to that, but I see now that they are entirely independent of his influence. It would be irresponsible of me to leave something like that unattended."

"I understand." Gellert nodded, tucking the knife into a slot in his robes usually meant for a secondary wand.

"Excellent. Contact me if you have any questions or see anything interesting, will you?"

"Of course."

And just like that, the strange man disappeared in a cloud of strangely soothing black smoke that lingered for quite some time in the dim room, distracting Gellert every time he tried to pass off what had just happened as his overactive imagination and paranoia working against him. The stranger had said he would take care of whoever had done such horrible things to him, and that alone was enough to make him grin unpleasantly. Albus had gotten old, feeble, and entirely too confidant in his little slave's competence and obedience.

"What goes around comes around." Gellert murmured, and then pressed the button hidden under the table to signal for more coffee, changing his order to Brandy at the last minute.

--

The students gathered in the Room of Requirement stared about themselves with awe, many of them already wandering off into the various partitions Harry had created with his mind, explaining to Hogwarts that he needed to separate the students into concentrated groups instead of keeping them like a herd of sheep.

There were a lot of them, and most of the original members had brought friends along. Most of them were 4th years and up, although Harry spied the new Slytherins in a corner by themselves, obviously nervous. Sighing, he approached them, careful to keep his pose open but commanding at the same time. Much against his will he had been named leader of the group, and had resigned himself to acting like it.

"You kids signed up?"

"Y-yeah." The taller one answered, practically shaking. Harry made a sudden move with his arm and they squeaked. Rolling his eyes, he stalked off and found a flat surface to use so he could take some notes. Those two would need to be grilled into shape, that was for sure.

--

End chapter 13

Sorry it is short. Was working all day and barely had time for this. I can't feel my brain anymore, actually.


	14. Chapter 14

A/N: Oh my God, guys, I am so sorry for how neglectful I have been lately! It's just that the company I work for is working on this huge project, so I am required to punch in extra hours and annoying shit like that. This doesn't mean I am discontinuing the story, okay?

CHAPTER 14

The first detention with Umbridge (a.k.a. Toad Lady to the Slytherins and those acquainted with them) had been uneventful other than a strange, almost panicked, look in her eyes as she had ordered him to repeatedly write the words 'I must show respect to Professors'. He was still puzzling over that and the foreign magic he had had a brief struggle with once he'd first started writing. The ink flowing from the quill was sporadic and brown with age. It resembled dried blood and grew far more scant the longer he had written until Professor Umbridge had handed him a normal quill and a small pot of ink that reeked of volatile potion's ingredients that he knew reacted with feathers and flesh. It had been no small feat to conceal the battle his protective spellwork had with it since fighting against something organic and devoid of independence is very difficult.

The second detention that he'd received after merely chewing loudly on a quill while she was trying to concentrate and repeatedly drumming his fingers while reading the idiotic textbook was a little more interesting. She had practically tried to stab him with a blood red quill when she handed it to him, and he'd had to fight to keep from sniggering at her obvious frustration. He had been composing a formal complaint to the Ministry about her dubious methods of keeping the students under control and had gotten five pages written before she decided to check on his progress, screaming in rage when she saw a particular paragraph dedicated entirely as to why her physical appearance was connected to her alleged 'unnatural feelings towards the feline species.'

They still snickered over that, and the way her face reddened whenever Harry walked in her standing a little too close to one of the student's familiars simply fueled the rumors.

Now Harry was walking towards his third detention in 2 weeks, fully aware that he was 20 minutes late and making no move to quicken pace above a leisurely stroll. He couldn't wait to see her reaction to this latest bit of 'disrespect'.

Raito was tucked into his bag and playing nice with Claudia, his miniature Dragon, and judging by the affectionate growls and rumbling purrs, they were getting along nicely. He reached the small staircase that led up to her office and climbed them carefully, avoiding the booby traps she had set with practiced ease. He had already been in here multiple times when she was at the Ministry of Magic, eating, or sleeping, and was well aware of her various nasty little surprises. None of them were as nasty as her, of course, but he was beginning to think nothing was.

He knocked loudly and didn't wait for her to invite him inside, pushing on the door and stepping in, assuming his usual seat on her flowered sofa and propping his feet on her glass table set before it, flecks of mud from his boots sullying the enchanted kittens painted onto the surface. They mewed pitifully and Harry rolled his eyes, withdrawing a Blood Pop from his pocket and stuffing it in his mouth while waiting for his DADA professor to react. As an afterthought he dropped the wrapper on the floor and pushed it under the couch with one lowered foot. Her beady eyes narrowed and he gave her a look of such innocence and blatant confusion that she actually blinked.

"You wanted to see me?" He asked, removing the lolly from his mouth with a soft pop. He saw Raito watching with one large yellow eye through the flap of his bag and grinned privately, slowly sliding the sweet back in. Raito made a quiet mewing noise and Harry gave him a wolfish grin that made Umbridge jump in her thickly padded and bright purple chair. It clashed with the carpet, which was in pastel yellow and pink, designed to flow in soothing, natural patterns that seemed strangely stilted when she was around. Undoubtedly her negative energy affected even that.

"Yes, I did, and I think you know why, young man."

"I was bad?" He bit down on the candy and it made a sharp cracking noise. She took a deep breath and he grinned smugly around the thin paper stick that had once balanced the lollipop.

"You are worse than bad. You are deliberate in your violations, which tell me that you have a criminal nature tucked away under that innocent face you show to your friends. I am merely protecting them by punishing you."

He glared and she swallowed uncertainly. Raito made a hissing cat laugh from his hiding spot, Claudia joining in and singing the edge of the leather strap by accident. She apologized by craning her neck to gently lick his fingers where they were loosely wrapped around it.

"And what cosmic force gives you the right to decide what is acceptable and what is not?" A thin layer of frost began to cover the table acting as his footrest, moving down the legs and dusting the soft carpet and eventually making its way up her desk to chill her to the bone. He was very angry now, as delusions of moral authority were not something he was inclined to tolerate, and the very air seemed to tremble in the face of it. He had to give her points for bravery when she soldiered on despite shivering violently.

"I was raised by decent society and know what is and is not proper behavior for children, no matter how much they may protest. After all, if children knew what was good for them, they would be called adults now, wouldn't they?" She looked pleased with herself and Harry was determined to wipe that look off of her face.

"Because all adults know exactly what they are doing all of the time and have never once made mistakes, which is why Voldemort was allowed to fester and ferment under the very nose of authority that could have restrained him without hurting him or violating the law, and there is no such thing as restraining orders because adults are surely in possession of self control and infinite wisdom of just where their obsessions can lead them."

Her throat worked, and she finally croaked out, "Dismissed, Mr. Potter."

He made sure to bow mockingly before taking his leave.

--

He made it several hallways away before his bag began to get lighter and he watched Asmodeus extract himself, partially turning himself into smoke until he was free of the various fastenings. Harry's back met the wall intimately and stayed there for a while Asmodeus entertained his front end, seeming very reluctant to even part with him for the few seconds every minute he needed to procure air. They were fortunate that no one happened to come across them, as news of the supposedly single Harry Potter mashed against the wall by an enthusiastic older man would have spread rather quickly.

When they parted for longer than a few seconds, Asmodeus with his head resting on Harry's shoulder and face out of sight, Harry quietly asked, "What took you so long?"

Asmodeus laughed and Harry grinned, gripping his shoulders and arching slightly to let him know he wanted a little more attention.

"Not here. Let's go to your bed instead." Asmodeus whispered needlessly, wrapping himself even tighter around Harry and 'smoking' them into his dormitory. They were alone thanks to a student activity that Professor Umbridge had deliberately tried to make him miss, not having known that he had no intention of going in the first place.

Harry took the initiative this time, only having to raise himself to his toes now to reach his mouth. They smiled into the kiss, teeth clicking against each other and Asmodeus used his arms for leverage to lift Harry onto the bed where they sat by side, engaging in simple kisses, neither in the mood for much more.

--

Narcissa wasn't showing yet, but she had begun to feel increasingly nauseous in the morning and knew that soon she would be plagued with all-out morning sickness. Groaning into her pillow, she waved out an arm clumsily, trying to locate her husband because she felt a little chilly. Bumping against his warm back, she rolled around until she settled against it, pressing her face into the clean smell of his cotton sleep shirt and sighing happily. He grunted and shifted in his sleep, now lying on his back and breathing deeply enough that she believed him still asleep when she laid her head on his chest. The hand that began to fiddle with her hair proved to her that she had been wrong, and she smiled when he asked her if she was feeling okay.

"I feel like shit." She muttered, pouting a little when the hand withdrew but cheering again when it returned and smoothed down her back.

"I'm sorry to hear that. Want anything special for breakfast?" That was his way of asking what hellish mixture she would be craving at the moment.

"Well, I was thinking that Fudge ice cream mixed with mayonnaise and topped with some stewed olives would be nice…"

He made a choking noise and she could no longer hold in her giggles, succumbing wholly and pounding her fist against his pectorals. He lightly smacked her head as punishment and rolled over onto his stomach, pretending to ignore her until she cuddled up to his side and began to blow on his ear, which she knew tickled him. He laughed and grabbed her so she was trapped under him, leaning in to kiss her when the door burst open and their daughters came running in. They made a leap at the last minute and ended up on either side of their parents, both of whom had frozen and hoped that their girls were still too innocent to understand what they had interrupted. Good thing they came in when they did and not 15 minutes later.

--

End chapter 14

Gyahhh! Review, please!


	15. Chapter 15

A/N: hey! I finally had a dream last night after months of absolutely nothing. I dreamed I could no longer see clearly. It was very realistic.

CHAPTER 15

The first month of school had passed without major event, and Harry was steadily doled out detentions by Professor Umbridge, although she now refused to serve them with him, passing him off to the caretaker Mr. Filch or sometimes to one of the other staff members who needed a helping hand, no matter how begrudging the students usually were.

Harry made a point to be so painfully well-behaved that the staff had begun to get a little suspicious of Dolores and her reasons for punishing an apparently innocent teenager so frequently. He was careful to hide his smirks and only display a blankly pleasant face to those in authority over him. Not that there wasn't an exception to this policy that allowed him to sneer at Umbridge whenever they were alone, something that she attested to but could never prove.

Currently he was drawing up more lists of spellwork that might capture the interest of his friends and acquaintances while Asmodeus amused himself by plaiting Harry's hair in a new style of braid Luna had shown several girls in the Common Room that he had paid avid attention to while in the guise of Raito and curled on Pansy's lap. The dark-haired girl had grown rather fond of him after he had viciously clawed Mrs. Norris in her defense while the she-cat was stalking her for no reason.

Asmodeus kissed his neck, and then just behind his ear. His lips were dry but soft and Harry turned his head to smile back at him, catching his cheek with his mouth clumsily. They bumped their noses afterwards and Harry's quill fluttered to the floor as he rolled onto his back to devote all of his attention to the Demon.

--(sorry about skipping the scene. I have come down with a severe head cold and seem to be incapable of feeling in the mood to write anything remotely sexy. My sincerest apologies…and please don't kill me)--

Grindelwald stood in his private office, close to the window that afforded him a view of the purple mountains and clouds that ringed them, admiring the natural defenses they provided the Ministry.

He might have remained there all day, the view of freedom and safety combined soothing his soul that had been confined for far too long, had his secretary not politely knocked before letting herself in and announcing that there was a Lady Black to see him.

"Send her in." He replied, sighing and making his way to his chair behind the cherry wood desk that had been filched from a Russian estate sometime during the revolution a while back and placed into storage. It was in relatively good condition, with only a few scratches and one of the legs held up by a stack of old Muggle newspapers since it have been chipped off fifty years ago and no one had bothered to glue it back on.

The door opened and a woman he had never seen before stepped inside. Her features were vaguely similar to someone he knew, he was sure.

"What can I do for you, Lady Black?" When people had titles and were in this particular complex, it was better to show them respect lest they demonstrate how talented in the Dark Arts they were.

"I believe it is more of a question of what I can do for _you, _Mr. Grindelwald." He raised his eyebrows and she smirked. "I have recently left my previous occupation, since it has begun to bore me, and I noticed that you do not have a personal assistant."

How the hell had she gotten into the staff records? Gellert managed to conceal a shudder of what this woman was capable of. Even if she had not personally uncovered this, she still had the resources and contacts, which was even worse.

"And what does this have to do with you?" He drawled, already knowing the answer.

"I am competent in both the traditional requirements and have some talents that are not required, but would be very useful should you find need of them. I would like to become your personal assistant, if that suits you. If not, do you have anyone I could refer myself to?"

"No need of that. You seem to be the sort of person I want standing behind me, so I will give you a trial of 2 weeks during which you shall prove to me what you are capable of. You will still be paid even if I decide not to hire you. Does that sound reasonable?"

"Reasonable enough; I'll start Monday." And without another word she turned and left the office, not looking behind herself once. She disappeared around a corner and his secretary came back inside, handing him a folder of requests and reports to look over. He couldn't pay them any attention, though, and ended up standing before his window once again, only this time he wondered if they were allowed to take walks in those friendly mountains inhabited by those who had had their homes stolen from them by the Ministry of Magic and needed somewhere, anywhere, to make their living.

--

The bowels of Hell flared and Lucifer reappeared in his office, not noticing Leviathan sitting in his chair until he sat on him. Jumping up, he glared at the blond, who was staring at him with something like worshipful adoration.

It was very unnerving, coming from him who had never bothered to show proper respect before.

"My Lord! We had thought He had sent you to the lower pits in punishment for something, and that we would never see you again!" He made a dive and clutched at the demon's waist and continued to spout endearments and eventually moved into Romantic poetry despite Lucifer's protests and threats of setting his hair on fire.

--

End chapter 15

God, this thing is short head-desk I'm sorry! But today is a holiday and I have stuff going on…


	16. Chapter 16

CHAPTER 16

Monday arrived and Gellert arrived at work early in case she was as well. Someone had to let her in, after all, since his secretary also worked for one of the other council members and wasn't always around. These slots of time when they had no secretarial support were what had driven the council members to adopt the practice of personal assistants so many years ago when the work had swelled until they had no other choice.

He sat down behind his desk and had gone through an entire stack of reports by the time the office officially 'opened', although everyone knew the offices never truly closed because of their nocturnal-only services to those who had an aversion to sunlight. Lady Black appeared out of nowhere just as the clock struck, leaning against the wall as if she owned the area.

"Sir." She greeted, the honorific slightly ruined by the steely edge that seemed to lurk behind all of her words.

"Lady Black. Would that be Miss Black or Mrs.?" He poised his pen over her information parchment that would then be filed in the staff records.

"Miss Ingrid Black."

"Alright." He wrote it down along with her title before asking, "And your birth date?"

"1806 A.D."

He paused in the midst of writing it down, and then raised his head to eye her critically. He was hardly one to judge on the matter of not aging, as he himself looked a good fifty years younger than his actual age, but her skin was beautifully preserved and she showed no sign of hair loss. "Odd…" He muttered under his breath, scratching down the last of her name and then her physical appearance while asking her if she was wearing any glamours that were disguising important features.

"Yes, a small one on my eyes; do you need me to remove it?"

"Not unless you want to. Just describe its purpose and what it is hiding."

"My eye color and it serves to prevent irritating questions from strangers."

"And your eye color is?" He carefully wrote down her general distaste for those who asked personal questions, and shaded a new section of her personality chart.

"Violet." She looked impatient now, although in a very restrained way as was proper for a woman of good blood like she apparently was. _'Violet?' _he questioned himself in the privacy of his mind, wondering what sort of accident of genetics had caused that. He bet they looked lovely, though, as the sheer purple insets in her complex blouse really seemed to make her glow.

"Now, if I could trouble you for a few drops of your blood?" He held out the chart for her and indicated the place where she was required to add some of her life force for both to verify the personality diagram and to determine the state and strength of her magical aura.

"Do you have something to slice with?" She asked curtly, snatching the sheet of parchment from him and scanning the contents rapidly. He handed her his letter opener and she unceremoniously took a large slice into her outer forearm after removing what he now realized were gloves. He had though they were sleeves. Her skin was very pale, and he wondered if there was a Vampire in the family tree somewhere.

The blood dripped into the proper spaces, and then she signed her name with it as it specified at the bottom in tiny neat print that could only have been written by one of the freed elves that worked here of its own volition. She handed it back and whispered something, causing the cut to close seamlessly and leaving no residual scarring. She wiped the excess blood off with a white lace handkerchief and then flung it into the fire because only a fool lets bits of their blood be available for the taking by god-knows-what.

"Now, if you'll take that down to the information desk, they'll set you up with a nametag and various other forms of staff identification. I will see to the office you will be using." She nodded and left the room, the stiff fabric of her skirt sounding like the rushing of the wind as she descended the stairs. It reached her knees and had insets of cats-eye stone that glinted and glittered in the sharp autumn sunlight.

He grinned. This had been a good decision indeed, and the increased speed he would be able to complete his obligations here meant he had more time to divine a way to spy on young Mr. Potter despite the many anti-spying wards the boy had somehow fashioned about himself like a sea of never ending blankets. And to think that he had though killing the Minister was going to be the difficult part of the Stranger's deal with him. Walden McNair was already dead, and had been ridiculously easy to get into that position.

--

Harry awoke with a start. Today was a Sunday, so most everyone was still in bed. Hell, people would be in bed anyway since it was 4 in the morning. Harry tried to determine what had awakened him, looking around and shifting slightly in the covers. Asmodeus groaned and muttered something about Harry being an enemy of people in desperate need of sleep, making him snort. There was nothing, so he lay back down, shivered until Asmodeus settled against his back and wrapped himself around him. Comfortably warm now, he drifted back to sleep but was plagued by dreams of someone or something watching him. It made him jumpy when he woke up several hours later, and even after he had taken a long bath he still felt uneasy.

Daphne watched him with concern during breakfast, and he explained the dreams and the feelings while all the while telling her how stupid this all was.

"It's not stupid." She muttered quietly, interrupting herself by taking a sip of her tea. "I feel like that sometimes, and it's not a nice sort of feeling. Makes you wonder what they want, whoever they are."

Harry nodded and ate the rest of his toast, hoping that none of his house mates were awake enough to notice that it was all he had ingested. None of his house mates were paying much attention but Edmund noticed and quietly placed a small bowl of sliced fruit in front of him and seized Harry's elbow so he couldn't sit up. Harry rolled his eyes and began to eat it, discovering that he was actually still hungry. Edmund had become a lot easier to be around now that he was involved with Bill Weasley, the previous tension removed from their relationship allowing them to even go on walks alone and not feel awkward.

He would be sad when he graduated at the end of the year, and resolved to write him and do his best to help him get a decent job through his connections. Edmund tried to steal a slice of the melon and Harry smacked his hand, indignantly pulling the bowl closer to him and 'guarded' it with his arms. Edmund grinned and served himself a bowl of the stuff.

--

Narcissa threw up violently into the toiler, Lucius rushing in while she was in the middle of it and holding back her hair. She threw up three times before her stomach was empty, and wiped the excess from her mouth with the back of her hand, chest heaving and nostrils flaring as she tried to make her body flow the way it was supposed to. Lucius wetted a cloth with cold water and used it to first mop the sweat from her face and then to delicately clean the stuff she had missed. While he was tossing the cloth in the laundry she stumbled to her feet and was just heading to the sink to take a long drink of the disgusting-tasting tap water when Lucius returned and pressed a glass of clean water into her hand.

She managed to smile weakly at him as she sipped it, leaning heavily on the sink. She _hated _morning sickness, dammit!

--

The feeling of being watched did not recede in the next week, and Harry found himself looking over his shoulder and wondering where the hell they were hiding themselves.

Asmodeus had become more protective after hearing about Harry's fears, and had enlarged himself until his head reached Harry's mid-thigh. He growled at anyone who looked remotely like a hazard to Harry, while Harry himself continuously searched the minds and auras of everyone he saw for monitoring devices, discovering several couples who kept an eye on each other's behavior around people of the opposite sex. That had made him snigger a little and wonder when they had stopped trusting each other to be faithful.

--

End chapter 16

Review, my loves! Hope this one is a little longer (eyes it)


	17. Chapter 17

CHAPTER 17

It had been another boring month of classes, detentions for miniscule reasons such as "your hair is untidy" and "there is a speck of dirt under your fingernail", Defense Association meetings, and the ever-present prickle at the base of his spine that warned him of foreign eyes watching him.

Sitting at the Slytherin table at dinner time, Harry grinned down at Asmodeus when he deliberately sat on his feet and made himself as heavy as a cat can be which is actually pretty impressive. He sipped his spiked coffee and struck up a conversation with Luna about the baby Thestral she had taken as a pet that lived in the Forbidden Forest. So far the House Elves hadn't minded giving her the scraps of burnt or unused meat to feed it, but she wanted another food source in case that changed. It was only a precaution, but Luna felt the need for it so Harry agreed to help her find a source of dead meat.

"So…where should we start looking?" He quietly asked, taking a delicate bite of potatoes.

"Um, I was thinking we should discover what the state of the rat infestation in the Castle is."

"Didn't they get rid of them a month ago or something?" Vincent interjected, leaning over and stealing some of Harry's Treacle Tart. Harry pinched his arm in annoyance but made no move to reclaim his dessert so Vincent took that as permission to stuff the entire thing in his mouth. Pansy made a face at the sight of it.

"They tried, but I think they have used the same spell too many times since the rats seem to have built up a resistance or maybe even a biological immunity to it. I wonder if I could accelerate that and make it apply to Humans…" She trailed off, eyes becoming misty and distant. Draco leaned over his girlfriend (which she didn't seem to mind) and snapped his fingers under her nose. She jumped, eyes returning to their normal pale blue and smiling at Draco over Pansy, who looked about ready to screech something at the oblivious (or was she? Harry could never quite tell how much of that vagueness was real and how much was faked) blonde for daring to get so close to her boyfriend.

"I'm going to the library." Luna announced, eating a last bite of plum pudding and rising to her feet.

"Mind the company?" Harry asked, pushing his empty plate away from him. She shook her head and waited for him as he transfigured his mug of hot coffee into a covered thermos and shouldered his bag. Raito rose and came out from under the table, his size making several younger Hufflepuffs follow him with their eyes as they walked out of the Great Hall. Harry could feel the Headmaster watching him, and the sensation was very different from the one that continued to plague him, so he knew it could not have come from the old man's aura.

He sipped his coffee on the way to the library, neither of them speaking. Luna's hair had grown yet longer and now brushed her thighs as it fell over her shoulders while she walked. Entering the library after several twists of corridors, they sought out the usual table and Harry set down his stuff to mark it as taken before setting out to find more books to catalogue and possibly steal.

--

Sophie watched with large eyes as her mother dug into a tub of triple-fudge ice cream in between large bites of pizza, her own dinner of lamb chops remaining untouched.

Father wasn't home right now; having been asked to work late and then attend a dinner that Narcissa did not feel well enough to attend, so there was no one to reprimand her as she played idly with her creamed potatoes. Beside her Collette had finished all the meat but not touched the vegetables, now eyeing Sophie's portion hungrily. She wordlessly passed her plate to her sister and watched her slice the meat swiftly and chomps it so fast that the entire slice was gone in less than a minute. Lately she had noticed her sister's increased preference for meat and cheese, no longer easily eating the bread or green things that would allow her to grow tall and healthy. But she didn't look sick or anything, in fact she almost seemed to glow now the more she ate dead things.

It was very confusing, and even though Sophie knew she was just a little girl and hadn't seen enough of the world to truly understand, she had a feeling that adults didn't know either.

She took a bite of her asparagus and asked to be excused, heading to the kitchens when she was given hazy permission from her rather preoccupied mother. The House Elves were trained never to refuse any of the members of the family anything they asked, so when she requested two small glasses of red wine, one of them with blood from the meat mixed in, they did not protest but merely carried out her wishes without a word. Carrying the glasses, she headed back into the dining room where she knew her sister would be still staring at their mother, handing her the blood and wine mixture. She sniffed it delicately and then grinned, drinking it with one motion and sloppily kissing Sophie on the cheek afterwards.

They left the table together and went outside to enjoy the sunset, Sophie sipping her wine slowly and hoping that maybe tonight she wouldn't have nightmares because she had heard that dark lager and red wine helped one sleep better than warm milk ever could.

--

Gellert did not regret hiring Ingrid. He regretted not having hired her the moment he entered his position, because her almost too-efficient work ethic would have saved him much pain. Sure, she never smiled at anybody, but she was pretty to look at and did her job very well. The many hours of additional time he now had allowed him to devise an unobservable observation spell that allowed him to keep tabs on the Potter boy, and now he had only to build up enough research on Minister Fudge so he could off him without giving himself away or adding to his current false reputation of being a criminal murderer.

Harry Potter had proven himself to be quite worth watching, and the folders that he intended to fill with his basic structure of behavior had become quite thick and detailed. _He _was the one responsible for the disappearing books in Hogwarts that he had heard rumored, and also for replacing them with harmless and idiotic light magic books in different languages. He had even thrown some Muggle fairy stories and fantasy novels in there. And then there was the Stranger's subordinate, who took two forms depending on whether he was alone with the boy or no. One was a size-changing white cat with yellow eyes and an intimidating personality, the other was a Man who was engaged in a clearly romantic relationship with his target. He had lain awake many nights now, wondering how such a partnership of Man and Spirit came to be, especially considering what both were capable of. He always decided by morning that it was better that some things remain a mystery.

He pressed the button that would bring Ingrid to his side, and requested a copy of the Daily Prophet.

--

Harry turned a page in the Russian novel, green eyes focused and lips moving with the words. Edmund glanced at the cover, raising his eyebrows when he recognized the famous Muggle author Leo Tolstoy. The novel was Anna Karenina, the tragic but still deserved story of an aristocratic woman whose adultery eventually led to suicide. Or so his mum had said when he'd seen her reading it last year, and he had resolved to read it himself some time. Since Harry was on the last chapter of the eighth segment he asked him if he could borrow it when he had finished. Harry nodded, giving him a sunny smile that matched the beams of autumn sunlight falling through the clouds, coloring the leaves to new and strange shades.

Edmund settled beside and pulled out his sketching pad. He had spent the day studying for his N.E.W.T.S. and written a long letter to Bill to let him know how he was doing and that he missed him. He had included a picture of himself to repay the one that Bill had sent a week earlier. Some Gryffindor named Creevey had taken it, and Edmund thought it had turned out alright.

After a few more minutes Harry finished the novel and set it to the side, tilting his head to see over Edmund's broadening shoulders. They were violating the proximity rules Umbridge had set up, first just for boys and girls, and now for same sexes. "What are you drawing?"

"Just something I dreamed about last night." He made a curved line and carefully altered it into a jaw bone, shading and moving on to the chin. Harry continued to watch him until the picture was complete. It was a Hulder woman, or so Harry guessed from the cow's tail and missing back he could glimpse from the angle she was standing at.

"You've gotten better." He said quietly, gently running the tip of his shredded fingers across her outlines. Edmund smiled to himself and signed his name, allowing Harry to take it and look through it while he picked up Anna Karenina and began to skim the introduction by the one who had translated it from the original Russian.

--

End chapter 17

Review, please!


	18. Chapter 18

CHAPTER 18

Freezing wind flowed through the corridors of Durmstrang without restraint and the twins shivered at the same time, pulling their furs closer around themselves. They were turning eighteen today and would graduate at the end of another hellish year of frigid classrooms and getting blamed for accidents that only had minimal involvement with them.

Georg took a gulp from his bottle of scalding tea, passing it to Johann afterwards. They weren't picky about germs or something, and shared everything (and I do mean _everything) _since they had known the other was in their life. Johann placed the bottle in his book bag and Georg opened the door for him when they reached their latest class, fashionably late. The teacher began to stutter and shake at the sight of them, and they grinned at the same time, coordinating themselves until they moved in the same time and way, crossing one leg over the other and slouching. Next to them one of the few female students rolled her eyes and picked at her nail varnish, her fringe falling into her eyes. Georg cautiously nudged her in the ribs with a bony elbow and she tilted her head to glower at him. Johann scribbled 'Hi Connie!' and drew a smiley face, passing it to his brother to pass to the girl. She looked at it and her lips quirked up as she wrote 'fuck both of you' with her pencil on the other side, passing it back with a smirk.

They sent her mock-shocked faces and whispered that she was the most unladylike girl they had ever met and that they never wanted to see her again. She flipped them off under the table and pretended to take notes on what the Professor was trying to say, ignoring them when they tried to catch her attention again.

--

Draco choked when he read the Daily Prophet headline, spraying coffee all over Blaise, and continuing to choke until he had gotten the rest of his coffee out of his throat.

"Jeez, are you okay, Draco?" Millicent sarcastically asked, snatching the paper from him and looking at it. Her eyes widened and she grabbed Harry by the arm, showing him the front. In large black letters surrounding a black and white photo of their Minister framed with flowers were the words:

MINISTER OF MAGIC CORNELIUS FUDGE FOUND DEAD IN OFFICE THIS MORNING!

In smaller letters underneath it said that the cause of death was still being decided. It could have been natural causes or some obscure Dark Magic, possible murderers ranging from the escaped nameless murderer to some offended council members from Brazil who had been insulted by the Minister insinuating that their country contained only Dark Wizards and was a cesspool of magical waste. Harry snorted. As if White Magic had no lethal spells in its arsenal and as far as he was concerned the bumbling bastard deserved to die as much as Albus Dumbledore did.

He passed the paper to Daphne, and from her it traveled around the entire table to the students who didn't subscribe to the publication, murmurs and exclamations following in its wake. The most common question at the other tables seemed to be who would have done such a thing, while the Slytherins could only speculate on who the next one to fill the office would be.

Hopefully someone with a brain who knew how to keep his big mouth shut would be elected this time.

--

Gellert grinned at Bellatrix, who was practically bouncing with happiness, her son Stuart who had escorted her rolling his eyes when he glanced up from the book he was studiously buried in and saw her display of excitement.

"Why, when I helped you out of prison I never would have guessed that you were going to do the world such a great favor, but I should have realized that a man of your caliber could never be satisfied with small game." Her dark eyes glittered in a way very reminiscent of her twin sons, and Stuart reached out and effortlessly wrapped a hand around her upper arm. She settled down immediately and Stuart blessed the Gods for giving him the sort of magic they had.

"I am glad to have your approval, although I would like to ask how you knew it was me." It had just occurred to him that no one could possibly know he was the one who had killed the obnoxious ball of blubber calling himself their Minister these many years.

"Oh, Stuart told me of course." She waved a hand carelessly, and Gellert's eyes bulged. Stuart looked up from his book again and raised an eyebrow at him. The blond cleared his throat and asked as calmly as he could just how the pre-teen had happened across the information.

"I see stuff, feel stuff. For a long time I didn't have a choice or any direction over it, but after some Occlumency and Legilimency tutoring I got a stronger control over my Inner Eye and now I can not only direct it but fight back. I happened to be watching the Minister when you set off your little…surprise."

Gellert blinked. This was not good, oh this was _not _good.

--

End chapter 18

Sorry about the shortness. Had class today and am kinda tired. Review because you love me?


	19. Chapter 19

CHAPTER 19

Waking up cold was never a pleasant feeling, and Harry tried not to crawl back into bed and stay there. It was the first of November, and the weather wasn't going to let him forget it. Yesterday had been a little nerve-wracking when the Toad Lady herself came walking through the seventh floor where the Room of Requirement was situated. Thankfully the Room displayed a locked and bolted room marked 'Storage' from the outside, so she left and went back to terrorizing Mrs. Norris or something.

Lately she seemed to have noticed how the students no longer paid much attention to her in class, and most had read the pitiful textbook filled with bright drawings that would have made any toddler squeal with joy on Harry's suggestion so they wouldn't have to study it later when she passed out another of her too-easy tests. Her list of things that the students were no longer able to do was getting very long, and as she grew ever more suspicious the list became almost vicious in its specifics. No students were allowed to gather in groups larger than ten (it had changed to five yesterday) for anything other than official school activities, and there weren't many of those anymore since Quidditch had been removed from the school because Professor Umbridge considered it a danger to both the lives of the participants and observers. The former Quidditch players now glared daggers into her back every time she went near them, and set up various little pranks that they knew would irritate her, such as rearranging her cat figurines and grading the papers for her so they did better than she would have given them had she been the one.

At least the Headmaster was proving good for something, since he turned a blind eye to any rule-breakers that Dolores complained about.

His shower chilled him further, and Harry hoped he wasn't coming down with something. He had been trying to sleep more lately, and he had filled out a bit more thanks to his friends-enforced eating habits, but nevertheless his ribs and hips still jutted out and he was very pale, paler than it was naturally and he wondered what he could do about that. The dark circles under his eyes hadn't left either, and he grinned when he remembered Umbridge muttering something about 'Inferi raccoons' early one morning as they'd passed each other in the halls. He still didn't know what she was doing awake at 5 in the morning, but he could guess that it had made some people unhappy.

Lips thinning at the thought of all the damage she had done to the lives of the students (he had never seen a Hufflepuff leave her office with dry eyes), especially now that she had become suspicious of some kind of conspiracy, his mind raced with ideas about how to drive her from the Castle. Several were discarded, but the core idea that a mere dismissal would not do remained. He would drive her screaming from this place, and never again would she look back. Her authority had already waned considerably since the Minister's death, and Harry had a feeling that the only reason she was even still here was because no new Minister had been elected yet.

Slowly, he began to smile. He knew _exactly _what to do now. All he had to do was wait a little while.

--

Lucifer pressed the tips of his fingers together, yellow-green eyes fixed on the image his desk top was displaying as if it was a reflection, the old man's brilliantly-colored robes and long white beard a little distorted from the whorls of the yew wood, but not to the point of obstructing his view. He had studied the old man's daily routines, his family, what he cared about, what annoyed him, and most of all what could be used against him. The revelation of the old man's secrets would need to be dramatic but anonymous. There were plenty of reporters who disliked him, so he was not worried about sources to publish the material. He would need to promise them protection, though.

He reached out with one long arm and scribbled down some information onto his open notebook beside him that was a careful collection of everything that he had found. When he was too busy to watch Dumbledore he asked Beelzebub to, as the oldest but not the first of the Demons was one of the only truly trust-worthy ones who dwelled in this place.

And speaking of Beelzebub, he knocked once on the door before carefully pushing it open and entering the office, seating himself without asking on the navy chesterfield sofa Lucifer had acquired in France during the most violent French revolution. But then again none of the Demons ever asked for anything unless they knew he was in a bad mood and Beelzebub really didn't need to show respect to those younger than him by so many eons.

"My Lord." Lucifer rose and bowed to him, smiling when Beelzebub waved a hand carelessly in dismissal.

"And how is the watched today?" he asked, voice rumbling like the Mountains of Mashu themselves. Lucifer sighed and sent a glance to the old man plotting in the privacy of his office.

"The usual. I should not be as surprised at the regularity of his schedule as I am, for it is normal for those his age and from his time, but I cannot help it."

"No need to linger on such petty emotions. It does not befit one of your stations." The red eyes fixed on him winked and swirled with the inner fire that had been placed there as further punishment. Lucifer shivered and wondered how the Demon kept from screaming.

"Did you, ah, need anything? Or did you simply come to enjoy my company?" Lucifer kept his tone playful, hiding his dread. When Beelzebub asked a favor, it is best to go fully armed as the paths his mind traveled were not meant for the weak or aged.

"As a matter of fact I do. It is merely a small boon and shall take but a moment of your time…"

It took all of Lucifer's strength not to shudder as he remembered the last 'small boon' he had been sent to achieve. There was a reason he could not stand the sight of large toads.

--

Dumbledore shivered in his office, sure that he was alone but not so sure at the same time. His wards were flawless and revealed no intrusion despite how many times he scanned them, and the door was bolted closed with a physical lock that distracted from the numerous invisible ones. There was no way someone could have punctured his fortress, but the eyes trained to his every move would not leave. Perhaps he was not getting enough sleep, for he could think of no other circumstance that would allow his nightmares to manifest in broad daylight.

He shook his head a little and took a sip of his sugary tea. He must be getting paranoid in his old age, and Gellert escaping from the _very _secure prison he had placed him in did not exactly help his emotional state. Even if Gellert decided to reveal some of his secrets, no one would believe a former 'Dark Lord'. He snickered into his drink, admiring his own cleverness. Ah yes, managing to fool the entire Wizarding World was no small accomplishment, and it was that thought that buoyed him up whenever he began to feel a little insignificant or was having a bad day. Mass deception did the trick like nothing else.

He pressed his seal into the melted wax of a parchment request asking if he wanted to become Minister of Magic, his answer to the request enclosed.

--

Harry stared down Umbridge, refusing to release her from his gaze. She was stuttering in her lecture now, eyes flickering as they tried to look away but unable to truly tear her gaze from his glowering green rimmed with purple circles so dark they were almost black. He focused on anonymous but detailed nightmarish occurrences in his mind and sent them telepathically into her mind, nudging her natural paranoia and buried terror into life but hiding them for now. This way he could manipulate those emotions when he needed them.

He smirked at her and released her at last, allowing her to continue to lecture on the so-called intricacies of a low-level shield spell all the while telling them that would probably never need to use this since everybody knew the Wizarding world was a perfectly safe place to live where nobody ever attacked anybody- that was why there were Aurors, she said.

As if an auror would pop out of nowhere and rescue you whenever someone threatened your life because they were keepers of the peace who _didn't _rape and murder countless innocent people because of Death Eater suspicion often based entirely on gut feeling…

Harry scribbled that down in his notes that Professor Umbridge insisted on reading at the end of every class, often keeping them overtime for as long as 45 minutes. He went into detail about all the things that the Aurors actually had done, showing that they were no better than the lowest level of society where men became beasts after their desires, living only for what they wanted and craved, all the while disguising it by sarcastically switching the verb from 'did' to 'didn't'. He sometimes thought that Umbridge really was ignorant of how 'just' the Ministry was, but then he would remember that she was just as corrupt, proven by the Blood Quill as he now knew it to be called that she used on the other students subjected to detentions.

--

The woods were dark, but that did not dim Stuart's sight any. He was following a tribe of Centaurs, admiring the sheer size and gracefulness of the Creatures that the Ministry of Magic declared to be nothing more than vicious animals. Judging from their conversation on Astrology in more eloquent terms than the Greeks who had done the same so many centuries before, they were by no means ignorant and crude beasts. Stuart snorted at how foolish some people could be. Why it no one ever saw what was was right in front of their face anymore?

His Eye widened when one of the Centaurs abruptly stopped talking and approached where he had situated his magical sight to observe them peacefully, its own eyes rimmed with thick lashes searching until they landed exactly on his hiding place.

"I know you are there, watcher." His voice was deep, and he pronounced his vowels slightly differently than Humans did. "I can tell that you are not a foolish little spy sent by the ones who try to hunt us. What do you want?"

Deciding that negotiating with just an eye wasn't going to work, Stuart studied the clearing for a few seconds and then apparatated to where the eye had been before he shut it.

The Centaur blinked. Stuart gave a little wave and tried to remember why he had thought this was a good idea.

--

End chapter 19

Hey hey hey! It pretty (kinda) long now! Does this mean I get reviews? Please tell me it does!!


	20. Chapter 20

A/N: 20 chapters already!

CHAPTER 20

The Centaurs continued to stare at the strange boy who had appeared, trying to reason out how someone that small managed to apparatate. It wasn't just that underage apparatation was illegal; it was magically unsafe for the common developing magical core of a young person and could cause a disorientation disorder that would linger into their adult years.

The boy seemed fine to them.

"Um, sorry about watching you without asking or even meeting you." He shifted on his feet, looking awkward and distinctly uncomfortable, "If you had been doing anything private or personal I would have immediately found something else to watch. I meant no harm; merely admiring your muscle structure." He clasped his hands behind his back and planted his feet in a position that would make him look open but commanding at the same time. He always hated people who immediately dismissed him as yet another powerless kid without looking twice.

"We are not upset. Merely curious as to how you managed your little spying trick."

"Oh, my Inner Eye is overactive and I really didn't have any control over what I saw until recently. Now I refuse to butt into people's personal moments. I thought you and the rest of your companions were merely taking a midnight run. Wouldn't have bothered you if I thought it was something else. I apologize for disturbing you." He made to apparatate back to his room. Maybe if he moved fast enough they wouldn't be able to kill him…

"Wait, small one." There was an unmistakable command underlying his words that made Stuart cringe slightly and put his escape plan on pause. Wouldn't want to needlessly piss them off, even if they might choose to sacrifice him on some stone slab in the middle of a graveyard to the goddess Artemis or something equally harrowing for daring to observe their nightly haunts.

"Yes?" The Centaur came over and loomed in really close, staring at a spot just under Stuart's heart- the place where the Inner Eye resides.

"I see that you were not deceiving us. It is really quite extraordinary to see the Eye opened so wide." He grinned, flashing rows of sharp, sharp teeth. Stuart bit back a yelp. Lestranges do not stoop to such noises!

"You may go now, and now that we know who it is we do not mind you watching our jog." Stuart breathed a sigh of relief, "But you must promise to come visit us sometime so we may examine your gift and perhaps help you hone it. Something like that can be very useful."

"Of course." Stuart bowed to them and then disappeared with a sharp _crack _that echoed off the boulders at the edge of the clearing.

The Centaurs looked among themselves, conveying with their eyes their various concerns about this event.

--

Harry entered the dormitory, skipping dinner to steal some alone time with his favorite person…er, Being.

Asmodeus was reading his H.P. Lovecraft collection of short stories, looking thoroughly entertained and Harry decided that this was a good time to sprawl himself next to him on the bed and whine about not getting enough attention, despite that being entirely untrue. He was 'appeased' by getting dragged onto his lap, an arm around his hips securing him in place while the Demon continued to read, eyes glued to the page. Harry sulked, thoroughly regretting flinging the book at him this morning and telling him to amuse himself. He reconsidered his mood when Asmodeus absently kissed his neck, still reading. Tilting himself at a new angle, he returned the favor and tickled the spot under his chin with his finger and inadvertently with his hair when he craned his neck to reach his cheekbone, cursing how tall the Demon was (seriously, being short and attempting to make out with someone a couple heads taller than you is very difficult. It's an art, I tell you). He hummed instead of squirming like he normally would, making Harry scowl.

This wasn't going the way he wanted it to, so he folded down a corner of the book and took it from his boyfriend's lax fingers, setting it on the nightstand. Asmodeus was grinning at him when he turned back to face him, hands braced behind his head. Harry lowered his eyebrows and opened his mouth to tell him off, but got interrupted via a suddenly enthusiastic boyfriend pouncing him and cutting off his vocal responses.

--

Harry appeared at the place where he and 4 of his friends were going to study looking a little rumpled but with an enormous grin on his face. He sat between Draco and Blaise to cut off their argument about whether or not iguanas liked rain more than sunlight, smiling at Pansy and Millicent who were actually studying. Millicent passed him a thick book to look over along with her notes on some ideas mentioned too briefly in it. he accepted it gratefully and went to work, elbowing Blaise when he noticed him slacking off. If they were dedicating their evening to this, they had better all be making the same damned effort at it.

--

Lucifer appeared behind Dumbledore in his office, inspecting the room from its new 3 dimensional view point before leaning forward and tapping the Headmaster on the shoulder, grinning wickedly when the old man seized up and whipped out his wand, rising from his chair directly into attack position. Lucifer ignored the wand pointed at his head and calmly held out a hand to shake, saying, "A pleasure to meet a man of your caliber."

"Who are you? How did you get in here?!" Albus asked frantically, his eyes clearly proclaiming that he didn't see any breach in the wards that were, unfortunately for him, only set to defend him against the _known _Creatures.

"I don't consider that to be important considering the position you are in."

--

End chapter 20

Bahaha! Cliffy!

Does this mean people will review? (big, hopeful eyes)


	21. Chapter 21

CHAPTER 21

"And what would that position be?" There was an arrogant undertone to the old man's tone that he did not consider to be in the proper range of deference required in Human-Demon relations.

"Well, I would happen to have poisoned your tea and can activate it at any moment with a single word. Perhaps a little more consideration for what I have to say is in order, hmm?" Lucifer's expression was patronizing now as he observed the dilation of Albus' eyes and how his breaths sped up dramatically. Actually he hadn't poisoned the tea, but he doubted announcing that Uriel was standing just next to them in the next dimension, the one not immediately visible to those with no poetic or psychic spirit, stroking his scythe and dying to lay it into the wrinkled flesh of the aged "hero".

"Now that I've got your attention, I would like to propose a trade. Another year to live during which you can arrange your affairs in exchange for a little task I'd like you to perform."

"How about two years?" He looked to have recovered himself, reverting back to his normal crafty self that the students would never see lest he damage his Kindly Grandfather façade.

"For daring to be so ungrateful, I am lowering it to 9 months; and even then it is only if you can complete the task correctly. A certain delicate level of humiliation is needed to create the sort of effect I desire, you see."

"H-humiliation?" Lucifer grinned widely, displaying the delicate fangs of his natural form that were enough to chill despite being paired with the outward guise of a Human body.

"Yes, Albus Brian, humiliation."

"Whose?"

"Oh, don't be foolish! Surely you have realized that it must be your's?"

"_Mine?!" _

"I grow bored of this little game, so I shall cease to pretty my words in a needless effort to make you more comfortable. God knows you don't deserve comfort; you deserve agony of the sharpest nature for what you have done…what you have convinced others to do in the name of necessity, of honor, of war. Do not try to hide your shadows from me, Human, for I have seen and even been present at several of your 'finer' moments, in a manner of speaking. Pride is a dangerous thing, as the wise men say."

Albus could not speak, and had to support himself against the delicate carved oak leaves and acorns of his desk. Fawkes would not rescue him, gold eyes fixed on him and filled with righteous anger. It would appear that all of his Occlumency against the Phoenix's powerful magic was for naught. His secrets, in thankfully vague terms, had been spoken aloud for the first time in the company of both his trusted familiar and every headmaster or headmistress of Hogwarts since the 1400s, all of whom were frozen in mute horror as the pieces of just what he had done came together in their fragmented minds.

Headmistress Lydia Johansson, of whom he had always been fond of despite her sensitive nature, broke the silence with a whispered, "How could you, Albus? How could you lie like this, to everyone you have ever met since the First War, or did it start before then?" When he did not answer, she snapped, "Answer me, Albus! I believe you owe us all an explanation!"

Lucifer raised an eyebrow, offering no sort of assistance. A cacophony of outraged painted voices began to work their way steadily up the decibel chart, filled with accusations and demands. The Demon silenced them with a raised hand and a dark flare of his aura that nipped at the strokes of acrylic and magic that held them together within their gilded frames. Albus noted in despair that even Fawkes with his thousands of years of existence did not know what he had just witnessed.

"Now about that job I need you to do for me…I would like you to confess to your staff just what you have been doing…your sick fascination with Tom Riddle when he walked these halls and your current one with young Mr. Potter…and of course what really happened in that un-witnessed duel that finally brought the supposed Dark Lord Grindelwald to his knees at last. And if you cannot bring yourself to do this, I will do it myself. The only way you can retain your 9 months is to rally for a full pardon and apology to Grindelwald himself, whom we both know is still walking this earth. I care not what means you use, only know that I will know if you fail or even should dare to disobey me with all the flippancy of a child. Do you understand?"

"Yes." Albus croaked, looking far older than he was. Ancient, even.

"Good. See you in nine months, I hope." He disappeared in a noxious cloud of sweet smoke that made Albus break down in a fierce choking fit when he inhaled it inevitably. He passed out on the floor of his circular office, aged body sprawled on the royal blue carpet.

None of the paintings went for help, only deigning to sneer a final time before deserting their frames and seek refuge within those of their peers as far away from the den of lies as they were able. Several ended up in the dungeons, much to the startlement of Professor Snape as he made his nightly rounds.

--

Harry suddenly felt safer and blinked confusedly. Professor Umbridge's classroom was hardly the place to feel safe and letting one's guard down especially now that she had begun random interrogations in an effort to satiate her bizarre but not unfounded suspicions. Now that the DA included most of the students, they had to be extra careful. Harry forbid anyone from mentioning it outside of his presence, as Toad Lady was known to lurk in damp corners and eavesdrop if she wasn't too busy questioning the Professors under the guise of an examination of how fit they were for their occupations.

Rumor had it that she had attempted to snub Professor Snape and had been royally but politely put into her place. Harry regretted not having been there to see it as he highly envied his Head of House's cool-headed manner of dealing with hecklers and disobedient students.

--

End chapter 21

Sorry it is both late and short. But hey, stuff happened! Which means you need to review and tell me how badly I screwed the plot over this time, okay?


	22. Chapter 22

CHAPTER 22

Minerva's eyes were narrowed to slits while she continuously muttered, "I knew it! I knew it, I knew it, I knew it…" under her breath, Severus remaining silent in his chair beside hers, his black eyes expressing volumes of pain that he would inflict on the Headmaster in a heartbeat if given the chance. Albus had forgotten that Severus had served as an interrogator and had been a damned good one while still loyal to the Dark Lord. He hid his fear by taking a leisurely sip of his tea-

Minerva smashed his tea cup with her magic, and several bits of the porcelain scratched his glasses while the hot tea soaked his beard and burned his chin. All he was left holding was the curved glass of the handle. He set it quietly on the table and folded his hands together while leaning forward. He had just opened his mouth to say something about how they should all hold their tempers in this situation when she half-rose from her chair and reached across the table in the Teacher's Lounge to slap him clear across the face. Professor, sitting two seats down, flinched and Snape sneered at her. if she couldn't stand the sight of violence on such a small scale, they would have to ensure that she was absent when they really decided to express their anger at being used for so long to accomplish the desires of a demented old man.

"I suppose I deserved that…"

"Damn straight!" She snapped, slamming her fist on the table and glowering at him over her spectacles. "And that's not all you deserve, either!"

His eyes lost some of their twinkle and he seemed to hang his head for a little while. "Albus, when you invited me to come to this school all those years ago to teach, I accepted because I believe I would finally have an honest and trust-worthy employer. I can see now that I was wrong, and I was not so attached to the students and if it wasn't my responsibility to replace you when you are indisposed, I would leave these grounds and not regret anything more than being such a fool as to trust your reputation instead of what my heart told me."

"Now listen here, Minerva-"

"No, Albus, I will accept none of your excuses. I won't tell anyone what I have heard in this room, but I hope you understand you have lost a supporter." She stood and exited the room in a swirl of her emerald robes. Severus' chair slid silently out as he stood, and he nodded to the other teachers in the room and then snarled at the Headmaster, "What you have done is unforgivable, and do not expect silence from me amongst my circles." He slammed the door behind him.

The rest of the staff members left en masse after that, none of them making eye contact with the man who had held their trust for so long and now proven that that had been a grave mistake.

Albus was left alone in the largest of the Staff's meeting rooms, the one that had served as the original as wide spaces were left for disagreements to be solved in duel, the gauges in the stone floor from that bygone era still gleaming in the sunlight pouring in through the windows. Figures that the last sunny day of the year would be the one he had to spill the proverbial beans on.

He put his head in his hands.

--

Dolores was getting very nervous, and very upset. Her authority was daily challenged by that damned Potter boy and nothing she did seemed to have any effect on his delinquency. She had looked up his guardians to complain personally via letter and had been shocked to see that they were both men! (Broni and Vlad have the same last name, so they look like married partners instead of brothers) Hadn't the Ministry made marriage between two delusional people of the same gender illegal? It had been one of Minister Fudge's first actions upon election, followed shortly by limits on how many children a family that had a Squib in it could produce.

Now she was on her way to the Ministry so she could rifle through their records to be absolutely sure that they were a queer married couple, and then file a case against them. That would be a fitting revenge, she thought. However there was a little snag in her plan, and it wouldn't be mended easily. When she tried to Floo to the Ministry it announced that the Floo connection was either malfunctioning or wouldn't accept them and could they please mail their request or use the Apparatation channels?

Grumbling, she headed outside the Castle grounds as the stubborn and insolent Headmaster had refused to lower the anti-apparatation shields even when she'd threatened him. All her threats had accomplished was to fish out the confession that he didn't have the magical strength to tamper with wards created by the Founders a thousand years ago.

She attempted to apparatate into the Ministry, gasping when she ended up in the spell-guarded section for the unauthorized who ended up in the Ministry by accident.

"What is the meaning of this?!" She shrieked at the security guard. His eyes widened at the sight of her and he sprinted from the private room without answering her, returning a moment later with the rest of the guards for that division. They had their wands pointed at her and looked very pleased with themselves.

"I guess we're the ones beating the Aurors this time." The squad's leader said to his men, still looking very happy.

"What are you talking about? Let me out of here! Do you have any idea who I am?" She banged her fist against the invisible walls of the secure area, bruising her hand in the process. While she was distracted and cradling it against her pink sweater, they placed restriction charms on her, freezing her in the position she was standing. Her thoughts ground to a halt as she realized that she was being arrested for some unknown crime. Thankfully they hadn't silenced her yet, so she managed to ask in the sickly sweet voice she used when she wanted something from Cornelius, "What are the charges against me? I'm sure this is all just a mistake…"

"No mistake at all, ma'am." The leader replied curtly, gripping her by the elbow and lifting one side of her while a bulkier officer had her other one. Carrying her down the hall towards the temporary holding cells for in between hearings, the man explained, "We have photographic evidence and eye-witness accounts from several well respected sources about you engaging in various illegal activities and your ownership of some illegal Dark Artifacts you were in charge of incinerating 10 years ago. Taking spoils is against the law and you of all people should have known that. I am ashamed to see what this government has come to when people like you are left in charge…" He trailed off, muttering not very nice things about her and other corrupt Ministry officials under his breath. Dolores was frozen. This couldn't be happening! It had to have been one of those hateful brats. No one else could have tattled…but what was this about pictures and respectable sources? Children weren't respectable or considered sources until they were of age, so who could it have been?

--

Deep in the dungeons of Hogwarts a group of students from all four houses snickered over the headline of the special edition of the Daily Prophet:

HIGH INQUISITOR DOLORES UMBRIDGE CHARGED WITH EMBELZELLMENT, THIEVERY, DISLOYALTY, AND ABUSE OF UNDERAGE WIZARDS.

In smaller print beneath was 'sentence pending', which made several of the more impatient or wronged students groan. Why did they have to wait to see her get her just desserts?

--

End chapter 22

Bahahaha! Dolores is going down, baby!

Review to celebrate! (yep, I am giving you excuses to make me happy by reviewing)


	23. Chapter 23

A/N: Anybody who hates the American Harry Potter cover art (I do), check out the Swedish covers. If anybody knows the name of the artist who does them, please tell me! Thanks everybody.

CHAPTER 23

The hammer came down with a smack, silencing the murmuring crowds, consisting mostly of employees who detested Dolores and had managed to get an invitation to the hearing. She had no sobbing family, no self-righteous relatives sitting in the front row dressed in black and sniffling as the judge had almost expected. At least she wasn't pulling the pity bullshit.

"We are gathered here today to determine the punishment of this woman for various crimes that will be exposed throughout this ceremony as they are too lengthy for me to even single out one or two." Amelia Bones paused to rub a hand tiredly over her eyes, as if she did not want to even acknowledge what she had seen the Ministry's Senior Undersecretary had reduced herself to. "We will be hearing witness accounts of her abuse, under Veritaserum which they have all insisted on receiving, and then we shall be presented with the evidence for her other crimes. We shall have an hour's break at noon for luncheon and then shall resume until 5 p.m." She gestured to the guard standing by the door and he exited the room briefly, returning with Dolores Umbridge herself and leading her to the table of the accused to sit beside her lawyer, provided by the Ministry as she owned no money herself, her only means of support apparently from funds acquired through blackmail of officers who refused to be named.

"I would like to call the first witness to the stand…"

The whole thing was grueling as the charges were many and detailed in their exposition. Photographs of her and her illegal possessions were passed through the jury for examination sometimes, and most of the people in the audience wished they could see them. The Wizengamot were silent as they viewed the evidence and listened to the witnesses, their eyes growing progressively wider each time Umbridge leapt from her seat screaming accusations about invasion of her privacy.

They parted for lunch, the crowds subdued and wondering what other rats were living right under their noses in the Ministry. Rumors about whether or not the Minister's murder was justified or not arose and managed to circulate all the way through the Ministry's branches before they were called back for the rest of the hearing, those who had heard the rumors taking them home with themselves and spreading them to their families and friends.

There was a possibility that the hearing would carry on into tomorrow so witnesses of her cruel and unusual punishment exercised on the _children _attending Hogwarts could have a few words to say.

--

It did, and the day dawned in the Slytherin dungeons with a large impertinent owl pecking at Harry's forehead. Or at least it managed to do it once or twice before it woke up Claudia (she isn't a morning Dragon) and she hissed at it, shooting out two thin streams of flames at its plumage, causing it to squawk in panic and flap its wings uselessly until it somehow ended up falling to the floor with a muffled thump. Harry sat straight up in bed, looking around wildly for the source of the noise. His eyes landed on the singed and smoking remains of the owl lying on the floor, a scroll tied firmly to its leg and sporting the elaborate red wax seal of the Ministry of Magic. Rolling his eyes, he bent over the side of the bed and plucked the letter from its twitching claws, breaking the seal and holding it up to the early morning sunshine to read. Beside him Asmodeus groaned and pulled the pillow over his head, curling into a ball with his back to the windows. He uncurled and paid more attention when Harry gasped happily, though, sitting up and leaning over Harry's shoulder to read what was apparently a formal request for him to arrive at the Ministry by 8 that morning at the latest so he could confirm that he had been unjustly singled out and harassed simply because his ex-DADA teacher had taken a dislike to him.

He looked at the clock and saw it was 5:30 in the morning, which meant he had plenty of time to get himself together and tell his Head of House where he would be and why he would be missing a day of classes.

The bathroom was empty, so he showered quickly without being distracted by conversations like he had recently. He choose to wear his school uniform because it would re-enforce his child-like image which would be distinctly in his favor. He also side-parted his hair in an effort to look more conservative but it just ended up falling into his eyes and there was a half hour stolen by his boyfriend who insisted that the hair was sexy and needed to be appreciated or something. He made up the slightest excuses to paw at Harry anyway, so he had stopped properly listening to them ages ago.

Convincing his Head of House to let him testify against the woman who had caused the Potion's Master so much irritation was an easy task, and Snape even set up an escort for him so he wouldn't get lost or harassed for traveling through the Ministry by himself.

--

It was very easy for him to re-word the events, carefully leaving out his own minor deliberate aggravating of her, and watching the faces of the Wizengamot slowly turn purple with restrained rage towards the pink-clad menace was enough to make him have to fight down a massive grin. A high point was when she managed to screech that he lived with two homosexual men who were married illegally. This earned some raised eyebrows, and she looked very embarrassed when Harry burst out laughing, beating his fist on the table as he broke down. When asked to control himself, he calmed and explained that he lived with two bachelors who shared the same last name because they were _brothers _, not boyfriends. He had been able to tell that there was a hidden lesbian couple in the jury, and he could tell that she had lost their votes if anyone was crazy enough to consider her innocent.

The hearing finally ended at 2 in the afternoon, Harry having lunched at a Muggle restaurant with his escort, an Auror in training named Nymphadora Tonks who apparently owed Severus some massive favors for blowing up his entire classroom multiple times in her course as a student at Hogwarts.

The jury and Wizengamot would need to spend the next three hours coming to a decision about whether she was guilty or not, and Amelia Bones would decide what to do to her for punishment and announce it tomorrow.

Harry was sure that most students would be too excited to sleep that night, especially the Hufflepuffs who had been cruelly victimized because of their more timid nature (or at least most of them were soft-spoken. There are exceptions to every rule).

--

It was announced in the papers that morning that one Dolores Umbridge was to be sentenced to a lifetime in Azkaban with no Dementor shields. No one grieved or felt the least bit sorry for her.

--

End chapter 23

Bahahaha! She is gonna get it now from the nasty face-sucking Dementors. Everybody knows chocolate isn't on the Azkaban menu….


	24. Chapter 24

CHAPTER 24

Harry mumbled something unintelligible in his sleep, rolling over to his side and his arm unintentionally smacking Asmodeus in the shoulder. The brunette snorted and woke, raising himself on his elbows and making sure Harry was alright before settling back down and wrapping his arms around him. His Human had gained some weight lately, which made him happy as he had been worried for the longest time that Harry would just wither away to nothing before his very eyes and he wouldn't be able to do anything to help him. His Harry could be so stubborn sometimes, he thought to himself, fondly stroking some loose hair from Harry's face where it had been tickling his nose. Harry sighed happily and nuzzled further into his pillow, half of his face no longer visible.

The Demon settled back down beside him, this time with his brow settled comfortably into his favorite place between Harry's shoulder blades where he could smell his scent and feel the soft beat of his heart while feeling his warmth. The combined sensations lulled him back to the sleep he had grown so attached to, and his last waking thoughts were of the occasional bitter cough that rattled his darling's throat. He thought it might be the cigarettes, but he could clearly see that his magic easily prevented the smoke from harming his fragile lungs.

He would have to ask Raphael to look him over later, and hopefully Harry would go quietly and not put up a fuss about being treated like a 'child'.

--

Everyone seemed more relaxed now that Umbridge was behind bars, and the entire school campus looked as though a massive storm cloud had finally left it despite the gray skies of late autumn dominating the landscape. The wind was cold, and Luna wore a thick sweater made of cream colored yarn that was almost as thick as common rope, looking toasty in comparison to her more dress code abiding peers who were shivering in their thin black robes emblazoned with the school crest. Harry grinned at her, shaking his head slightly and dumping an extra dose of rice wine into their hot tea over lunch to help keep them warm throughout the rest of the afternoon classes.

The members of staff that they could see looked troubled despite the pink-wearing woman's departure, and Harry raised his eyebrows when he noticed Minerva sitting as far away from the Headmaster as possible. In fact, the staff in general were avoiding conversation or even direct eye contact with the elderly man, keeping to themselves and sitting as far from his as possible. Maybe the plotting bastard had finally been caught red-handed in one of his little schemes? Harry shrugged and sipped his scalding tea. According to a conversation he'd had with Asmodeus this morning, he had worse things to worry about. Supposedly the little cough that had been bothering him lately worried him and he should have himself examined in case it was something serious. Personally he didn't feel sick or injured, but he wanted to keep his boyfriend happy so he had promised to ask Luna how to get in contact with Raphael for a quick check.

Seeing as they still had half an hour before they had to head to classes and both of them had finished eating, he asked her if he could speak to her privately. She nodded and smiled at Daphne who she had been chatting with about the Yule Ball that was now back on schedule since their DADA teacher was gone, rising and walking with Harry out of the Great Hall unnoticed. They headed to her next classroom, Potions, and he asked her if she was still in contact with the Arch Angel Raphael, sighing in relief when she answered in the affirmative, asking what he wanted with him with a genuinely curious look on her face. She looked so innocent he almost forgot what she did to support herself and her father, and a vague question about whether or not she had done _that _with the Angel but he didn't voice it.

"Well, lately my throat has felt a little sore and I've been coughing a lot. Sometimes some blood comes up too…" He hadn't told Asmodeus about the blood, deciding that it was better not to worry him with something that was probably not a big deal anyway. People sometimes got pockets of blood when they had minor throat infections (like your author here, who has regularly spent her evenings prodding the back of her throat trying to figure out where it is coming from)

"Alright, I'll take you with me this weekend when I go home and we'll have you two meet up. You're sure this isn't just a side effect of the cold weather?"

"Positive, and besides even if it is just a minor problem I'm still going to pay Raphael for his trouble."

She laid her hand on his forearm as they stood just outside the Potion's laboratory. "This isn't about money, Harry. I'm worried about you, you know, and I intend to be let in on whatever is wrong with you, okay?" He nodded and smiled sweetly at her, pressing his forehead to hers briefly and heading to his own class when he saw the early arrivers from 4th year heading towards them.

"See you at dinner!" She called after him, heading inside the stone room before the other teenagers could jostle her too much. Some of the bottles she had in her bag were glass, you know, and she couldn't have them getting broken by inconsiderate and pushy crowds. Especially since the price of alcohol had gone up.

--

The Daily Prophet seemed to be fixated on two things lately. The first were the series of affairs an important celebrity had had with various unwitting Muggles, which had caused quite a stir amongst the more traditionally minded members of Pureblood society, and the candidates for the position of Minister of Magic. So far the candidates hadn't been well-known politicians as was usual, since most of the established members of the Ministry seemed rather nervous about entering the office where Cornelius Fudge had met his mysterious and still unexplained end. Detectives and Aurors were still as confused as everyone else, and Harry had a sneaking feeling that the cause hadn't been anything Humans could do. Or at least if the way Asmodeus had smirked at him was any indication…

He pushed away his wandering thoughts and wrote down some sketchy notes for Transfiguration, trying and failing to focus on Professor McGonagall's lecture. Her body language was just too interesting! He sucked on his Sugar Quill, courtesy of the Weasley Twins when he'd won a professional Quidditch bet against them last Hogsmeade weekend while watching it on a screen charmed to the walls and projecting a live game in Wales.

Two seats across from him to the left Ron Weasley was staring at him blatantly, apparently doing the Gryffindor equivalent of being sneaky. Harry snickered but broke off halfway through with a violent coughing fit that made his Professor send him to Madam Pomfrey, looking very worried. He didn't see what the big deal was; it was just a cough, right?

Right.

--

Darlene smiled at John over her glasses, helping him find some files he'd lost during her two week 'vacation to Barbados' during which he'd had to endure the moronic antics of an incompetent assistant. She had been amused to discover that the office was far more disorganized after the replacement had 'rearranged' the documents.

Not to mention that her boss was the picture of humanity, looking like he was about to pass out with exhaustion and kill somebody with a chainsaw at the same time. The dark circles under his eyes were very pronounced, and she knew part of it was from worrying about his partner who he now knew to be engaging in dangerous (by Human standards) tasks in preventing the outbreak of It.

She located the missing sheaf of parchment and handed it to him, fetching him some more coffee before returning to her own office and continuing her job of putting everything back where it belonged. The whole thing would be so much easier if the files weren't resistant to magic.

--

End chapter 24


	25. Chapter 25

CHAPTER 25

Madam Pomfrey hadn't been able to find anything wrong with him other than what she passed off as a common cold, and instructed him to get some rest, dress warmly, and drink chamomile tea to soothe his throat.

Harry despised chamomile tea (the last time he'd had it Vladimir had brewed it. Enough said), but he drank it anyway because the school nurse could get very scary very quickly if she had an unreasonable patient. The tea _did _dull the ache in his throat, and he reluctantly asked for some more to take with him to classes in a bottle of some kind. He ended up loaded with 15 thermoses full of the stuff which she shrunk and allowed him to stuff in a pocket of the book bag that never left his sight, and understandably so since some of the contents could get him arrested should someone from the authorities happen to rifle through it.

The rest of the day he drank chamomile tea the second his throat started acting up, and it helped keep the irritation down but the coughing fits still came. He became slightly worried when he coughed up some blood, but passed it off as from a small cut on the inside of his mouth he'd gotten from the pointy corner of a piece of toast that morning.

--

Immediately after classes ended on Friday Luna appeared outside of Harry's Charms classroom and gripped him by the arm and dragged him off to a place where they could Portkey to her house. He'd been expecting this and had let his other friends know that he would be seeing a doctor about his throat so they wouldn't panic and think he'd been kidnapped or something since most of the were well-off enough to hire private detectives on the spot if they thought something unsavory had happened to him.

Landing on the clothing-strewn floor of her bedroom, Harry snickered at a bright yellow feather boa draped around her bedpost and she smacked him playfully on the arm.

"Raphael will be here for dinner tonight, and he will want to do some quick checks but tomorrow he wants to do a full examination to see if you have something more serious that the cough is a mere side effect of."

"Okay." Harry nodded, standing and following her downstairs to help her clean the house and prepare enough food for her father that week. They split up while the food was in the oven or the bread was rising, Luna tackling the upper floor which consisted of the bathroom and her bedroom as well as a large closet that stuff got thrown into while Harry got the kitchen, parlor, and her father's office. Mr. Lovegood was asleep at his desk and Harry got the feeling this happened a lot, covering him up with a discarded sweater so he wouldn't catch a chill from the cold house.

By the time Raphael showed up both of the teenagers were tired and more than a little mussed from scrubbing the hard to reach places, not to mention the entire hour they had devoted to the bathtub which her father had performed some sort of experiment in that involved bright splotches of paint covering everything from the tiled floor to the peeling ceiling that had weathered too many rainstorms.

Raphael took one look at them and stepped back outside. They didn't know what the hell he was doing until they heard muffled laughter from outside the door. They glared daggers at him when he stepped back inside, looking a little red and watery-eyed. He merely hugged Luna and messed up Harry's hair on his way to the kitchen, long hair practically floating behind him. Luna rolled her eyes and followed him, leaving Harry to straighten a crooked lamp shoved in a corner and weakly sputtering some light from a very old candle before joining them at the table in the kitchen, sitting next to Mr. Lovegood who had woken up from his nap.

Dinner clean-up had barely ended when Raphael pounced him and dragged him off to the sofa in the parlor with the least rips from Luna's plethora of feline friends, most of whom were observing this as if it was the evening's entertainment. Harry wished he'd brought Asmodeus so he could see how normal cats that were not strays reacted to him.

After much poking and prodding of his neck, and being asked to open his mouth very wide, Raphael began to look serious and asked Harry to make various noises that would flex the muscles and give him a better angle to see. He was frowning when he told him he could stop, digging out a Muggle notebook from the pocket of his trousers and scribbling a goodish amount in Latin, with foot notes in German. Harry had only a sketchy knowledge of both languages and didn't recognize any of the words, but he could tell that he had something a little worse than a common cold.

"Harry, I can either come pick you up at around 11 a.m. or you could meet me at my clinic before then. Whichever suits you best?"

"Um, I'll be downtown tomorrow morning anyway, so it would be more convenient for me to just drop in. Does 10 o'clock sound alright?"

"That'll work." He took a sip from his tea to see if it had cooled and drained the rest of it very quickly after discovering it to not be the temperature of volcanic lava. He lit a cigarette afterwards, leaning back into the couch cushions while Luna came out of her father's study where she had put him to bed, sitting between them and begging a cigarette off of the Angel. He sighed and passed her one, grinning at her when she glared at him for not lighting it. Harry watched this with raised eyebrows, yesterday's musings returning full-force. To avert the argument that was about to start judging from the way Luna opened her mouth, he pulled out his Muggle lighter and lit it for her, getting one of his last ones and lighting it as well before secreting the lighter back into his pocket. He didn't smoke often, but since he was going to smell like smoke because of them, he might as well get some nicotine into his lungs of his own volition.

--

The next morning at about 4 o'clock he awoke to see Luna climbing in the window, looking like she was about to fall over from exhaustion. Being the considerate friend he was, he let her fumble around for a minute until he got out of bed and helped her locate her sleep clothes, turning around while she changed out of her mini-dress and thigh-high boots and removing the bottle of vodka she held close to her chest even in her nightdress. He deposited it on the nightstand at first, but when he realized how rickety it was he set it on the floor next to it instead. Since he was now fully awake, he braved the bathroom and showered quickly because the water was cold and he didn't want to aggravate his throat. Dressing in the spare clothes he'd brought and buttoning his coat up all the way because London was freezing on days like this, he shouldered his bag and snagged the shopping list Luna had written up for him last night so they could make the rest of the food today when he got back from his check up.

--

Raphael performed the basic check-up cheerfully and quickly, seeming to have solved whatever problem Harry had in his mind last night and now only needed to remedy it. While Harry watched him expectantly, playing with a bracelet on his wrist that would ward off Dementors, Raphael seized a case of glowing bottles from a shelf and handed it to him.

"Um…?"

"Drink one of those every night for 5 days and you'll be fine in no time. However, there are some side effects that you should watch out for. The first night you'll feel feverish and it may or may not keep you awake depending on how you usually react to fevers. It will be there because your body will be removing the toxins through any means necessary, which is why you will detoxify in all the usual stages fully in the last four days. Throughout the entire time you will feel quite warm, and I forbid you to use any cooling charms as they will tamper with the healing process. In fact, if you could avoid inhaling lavender also I would appreciate it."

"Anything else? Like, things I shouldn't eat or drink?"

"No alcohol and try to avoid sugary, salty, or friend foods. And don't give me that innocent look…I know you drink just as much as Luna does." He tried and failed to look sternly at Harry, ending up grinning instead and handing him an extra red vial. "Drink this immediately if your eyes or heart have any kind of pain, and alert me so I can see how bad the damage is."

"Why would I have pains there? I thought this was just my throat."

"It starts in your mouth, works it's way down, and I can't tell how serious it is. Eye pain means it is coming close to your brain fluids and heart pain means that it has corrupted your vital organs and you are about to die."

Harry's eyes widened and he clutched the vial tighter. "Raphael, just what is wrong with me exactly?"

"You inhaled some poison by accident…its not a chemical that is normally dangerous, though. it just reacted to something in your system and became toxic."

"Oh." Harry's voice was quiet, and he looked thoughtfully down at the bottles of unearthly-colored liquid, guessing correctly that it was bottled magic that would replace the holes torn into his aura from the poison. "Thank you."

"It was no trouble. Besides, those bottles would have expired next week and I would have had to waste them by throwing them out. You are doing me a favor as well."

Harry forced the Angel to take his payment and left, taking the groceries that he had preserved with some handy charms with him on the train on his way back to the Lovegood residence. He bought some cigarettes at a gas station before apparatating into her parlor and making lunch for Mr. Lovegood since Luna was still sleeping.

--

End chapter 25

Ooh, Harry almost died! Review and celebrate Angelic medical cures with me! Or just review because you like me ;)

Speaking of reviews, I am now over a hundred. Thanks so much, guys! I really love all the support you give this story, and I hope you understand that we wouldn't be here right now without your input and encouragement.


	26. Chapter 26

CHAPTER 26

Luna awoke groggily at 2 in the afternoon, and immediately groped under the bed between her mattresses picked up on the street for her bottle of hangover cure, taking a little over the measured dose and flopping back on the bed after screwing it closed. Harry came in, having heard the mattress from the landing at the top of the stairs where he had been removing a stubborn stain from the half-rotted banister. He kept his voice soft, for which she was profoundly grateful, and asked her if she was hungry. She mumbled no and curled deeper into the cushions while simultaneously gesturing with her hand for him to join her.

He stepped out of his boots and crawled in beside her, closing his eyes and relaxing. There was something profoundly comforting about the hodge-podge of pillows and blankets and quilts that always set him at ease, and he absently recalled Luna telling him last time he was here that this used to be her parent's bedroom, but she'd had to move her father after he started having fits sleeping in here because of her mother's accident. He dozed a little for half an hour with her until they both came to the unspoken conclusion that they had lazed around enough and Luna could no longer pull her 'I didn't get enough sleep' excuse.

Her hair was even more of a mess than usual, and Harry grinned when he noticed a large peacock feather woven into one of her braids amongst the dreadlocks she was unwittingly growing. He tugged on it and she smiled a little, fiddling with the matted thing before grabbing some clothes and departing to the bathroom to get cleaned up from last night's 'festivities', the pay she'd gotten from it still in the heel compartment of her boots that she'd worn last night.

Emerging 15 minutes later with her skin as red as a lobster (apparently Raphael had fixed the water pipes again while she was asleep) and dressed in an innocent-looking sundress, she grabbed Harry's arm and told him on no uncertain terms that they were going to the Weasley's the say hi to Ginny who was at home because of a fever. He had no objections to that, and they spent the afternoon entertaining the redhead and eventually helping her mother around the house while the Gryffindor napped. Mrs. Weasley was most impressed with Harry, and he decided it must have something to do with her comparing his work ethic to her 6 boys, none of whom were gifted with the art of keeping an abode tidy.

His thoughts wandered to how Ron had been watching him in Transfiguration and wondered what all that was about. He hadn't pranked anyone lately, since he no longer saw the point when Peeves did such a thorough job of it, and he hadn't even paid him any attention. Maybe he had something to say? He would just have to ask him when he got back…sure it wasn't subtle, but why wonder when you can know for sure?

--

Returning to the Castle on Sunday morning, Harry and Luna parted ways with promises to meet up in the library that afternoon before dinner and possibly just eat in the kitchens so they could finish all their homework that they were supposed to do over the weekend but neglected.

On his way to his dormitory to unpack his dirty things and say hello to his friends, he ran into Ron Weasley. Instead of practically ignoring the redhead as was usual, Harry stopped and returned his gaze coolly until he fidgeted and looked away while sidling over to him.

"Um, Potter…"

"Yes?"

"I, uh, noticed that you, er, smell like smoke a lot."

Harry blinked. That was unexpected and he wondered where this was going. "Yeah, I smoke cigarettes and I usually sit by the fireplace in my Common Room. Why?"

"No, a different kind of smoke; kind of like herbs or something…and I was just wondering what it was 'cause it smells kinda good. Is it cologne or something?"

Harry laughed, but partially to hide his nervousness. As far as he knew, Asmodeus' scent wasn't something that existed on earth as an independent chemical, so he would need to either obliviate Weasley or make up some bullshit about creating it.

He went with the second option, and calmly explained that he was experimenting with potions to create different scents with a group of girls who had dragged him into it. Ron looked relieved and wandered off shortly after the silence stretched on too long, and they both shot backward glances at each other.

--

A joyful reunion with Asmodeus later, he managed to convince him that they should migrate to the library to meet up with Luna, earning himself a brand-new hickey on his upper thigh for 'being mean' and a spoilsport.

He was still rolling his eyes when they reached the library, Asmodeus with his head poking out of his shoulder bag and making sure no one gave Harry crap for looking a little ill. Raphael hadn't been kidding when he'd warned Harry about a fever, and last night could hardly have been described as pleasant. The uncomfortable warmth still thrummed through him, making his fingers twitch and his hair stick to his forehead with sweat. He hadn't felt any twinges that would make him need to use the red bottle yet, but he still carried it around just in case.

Finding a table suitably out of sight and then heading off to the neglected shelves of the Restricted section, Harry made himself cozy on the floor and winked at Asmodeus, who had transformed into his Human form and was ignoring him while perusing the dusty volumes of an encyclopedia of illegal potions ingredients. Harry stuck his tongue out at his back and basked in the pale December sunlight coming down from the windows high above their heads.

A gargoyle carved into the stone above the window nearest to Harry's resting spot opened its eyes wider than the carver had allowed it to when it had first been made, the previously-inanimate pupils turning a brilliant blue and fixating themselves on him.

Harry suddenly felt like he was being watched closely and looked at his boyfriend to see that he was still buried in the volume labeled 'Reptiles and Their Cousins', eyes occupied. He looked around and did some scans but didn't find anything but them and a lone Hufflepuff on the other side of the library since Madam Pince was eating dinner early with family or something; Harry's sources had been vague, not knowing for sure themselves where the feisty librarian was for sure.

Who the hell was looking at him?! Harry hated uncertainty and feeling helpless, and he felt both right now. His fever was _not _helping his mood.

--

End chapter 26

Bleh…sorry it is short, but my head hurts and I am distracted as all hell. Review anyway because the author needs love?


	27. Chapter 27

A/N: Sorry about yesterday's chapter sucking like it did. Hope this one is better.

CHAPTER 27

It was the last day of the treatment, and Harry was feeling almost like his normal self since the fever had left him for good last night. He could finally eat and keep it down, and he was taking full advantage of this by piling his plate with everything he liked at once and eating more than half of it before all of his friends were assembled (or at least the ones sitting with them today). Luna showed no shock, merely stealing a piece of bacon from him, eyes distant and misty in a way that let Harry know she had gone out last night to make some money.

The other House tables were slowly filling up with sleepy-eyed students, and Harry scowled when he noticed that the first year Slytherins were among them, slowly moving their way to the Green Table. Slytherins needed to be alert and focused long before anyone else if they were expected to survive the prejudices against them, and the new students were far behind in that area. Their reflexes and work ethic had drastically improved with the founding of the DA, which was no longer active as regularly as before, but they were still a long way from where they ought to have been by now. Harry caught their eyes and gestured for them to sit nearer, and they ended up scattered between the packs of his followers, one terrified little girl ended up wedged between Millicent and Vincent, who were arguing about whether or not being torn limb from limb was more painful than being sliced in half.

"You're late." Harry intoned, ruining the effect by taking a large bite of pancake. The 11-year-olds hung their heads, and he had the idea that it was more to hide smiles than out of shame. Pansy snickered at him and leaned across the table to flick his forehead. "I never thought I'd see the day when you dropped your bird-pecking ways and ate like a proper ravenous male."

"Oh, shush." Harry grinned at her and finished his breakfast, rising to head to the library for the hour before class started but froze in place, his fingers slacking on their grip of his book bag. Raito mewled curiously, looking up at him from the floor with large eyes and then snarled in startlement when Harry pitched forward and collapsed against the table, unconscious. Pansy shrieked and immediately went to alert Madam Pomfrey while Blaise levitated Harry and followed her at a slow pace so Harry wouldn't be jostled. He had no idea why Harry had just fainted, but judging from the weird color his veins had just turned, it couldn't be good. Maybe somebody had poisoned him or something? Blaise wouldn't put it past some of the people here to do something so underhanded just because they had issues.

Passing students gave him worried looks and Blaise only shook his head when they tried to ask him what was going on. He didn't know anymore then they did.

--

Three hours later and Madam Pomfrey didn't look any closer to knowing what was wrong with Harry, and they watched fearfully as he began to sweat profusely and then mumble unintelligibly, shifting restlessly in the hospital bed sheets. Quite a crowd had assembled and then been shooed off to classes, although not many of them were paying attention to the professors. By lunch everyone knew that Harry Potter, who had rarely missed class before, had collapsed at breakfast and was now being relocated to St. Mungo's because all of the healers who had come to assist Madam Pomfrey were as ignorant as to what was wrong with him.

Ted had bit all of his nails to the quick and the entire table was strangely silent, the one thing on all of their minds was that they could be the next victims of whoever had done that to Harry. Maybe it was Umbridge somehow? He had, after all, testified against her and a woman that high-ranking was bound to have at least some loyal followers out for blood.

Barely anyone ate anything, minds focused on how something this weird happened at Hogwarts.

--

In a private ward of St. Mungo's, Harry lay flat on a leather examining table with a flurry of medi-wizards around him poking and prodding him in an effort to discover what was wrong with him. So far all they could see was that it was something completely new slowly shredding its way through his vital organs and heading slowly towards his heart, turning his veins a yellow-ish shade as it went. It was very close to his heart and had infused his lungs when the door banged open, startling the doctors into staring at the tall blond man wearing the signature long white coat of Muggle physicians over a Muggle dress shirt and slacks, both in white. The effect was somewhat blinding when paired with his pale complexion, but he didn't seem to be paying much attention to the staring and useless medi-wizards.

"Did he bring anything with him?" His voice was smooth but jarring at the same time, and his eyes were hard as he looked them over, daring them to answer.

"Uh, he had a bag, sir…"

"This it?" The man lifted a bag that seemed to be more a motley collections of buckles, pockets, and patches than a school bag. A muffled hiss came from inside, and he unfastened the top, flinching back when a large white cat bounded out of it and onto the table, curling up beside its master and whimpering while nudging him gently in the ribs.

Harry didn't respond, his chest heaving frantically as the yellow fluid in his veins came ever closer to his chest. The man searched urgently through the bag's various pockets and compartments, coming across more than one built-in hex that had no effect on him but amused him nonetheless. He grinned when his fingers closed around the vial of red liquid, not taking a second to admire the way the color was amplified by the artificial lighting that filled the room, instead propping Harry up by wrapping an arm around his shoulders and then opening his mouth and pouring the liquid in, massaging his throat so he wouldn't choke.

A few tense seconds later the yellow suddenly began to recede, and the monitoring devices they had hooked up to the teenager to map his recession began to make all sorts of noises, showing drastic improvement. After several minutes the charts displayed normal vitals and aura, and the brain wave chart changed to wakefulness just as Harry's eyes opened and he sat up entirely, taking his weight off of Raphael.

"What happened?" He asked softly, directing the question to the room at large while running his fingers through the fur of the cat, which looked very pleased with this and was cuddled on his lap.

"Um…"

--

End chapter 3

Whoo for drama!


	28. Chapter 28

A/N: I really need to stop listening to the blues…I think it is affecting my writing style :S

CHAPTER 28

He was finally back in his dorm room after three days of mediwizards examining him to try and discover what sort of attack he'd had and multiple blood tests that had spawned even more blood tests once some peculiar results surfaced. However they were convinced to cease their increasingly invasive tests when a tall redheaded woman with a long ponytail and a brunette man dressed in elaborate blue-colored robes entered and started talking to them in low voices.

Apparently they were the Head of St. Mungo's and his secretary, Darlene. Nobody seemed to remember her last name (actually, I can't remember it and don't have time to look. If any of you do, or want to be nice and look for me, just tell me what it is via review or PM. Thanks!), but apparently she didn't need to have her full name spoken in order to inspire obedience. Harry had a feeling that she was the sort of person who could do a lot of damage if made angry enough and that the healers had learned this the hard way some time ago and were still scared out of their wits to have her standing so near if the way some of them were shaking was any indication.

The Headmaster had come and tried to be an escort on the way back to the school, Harry enduring his 'subtle' questions with a long-suffering smile and nothing but silence for answers.

The moment he was left alone in his room, his friends heading downstairs for dinner, he leapt into bed and made sure to close the curtains in the split second he had before Asmodeus transformed out of Raito's body and pulled him into a tight hug, mumbling about how much he'd worried while he'd been in the deepest level of the poison's attack, and how if he ever did something like this again he didn't know what he'd do. Harry returned the embrace, realizing how much he'd missed this while lying cold and alone on the hospital bed with strangers with cold hands handling him with fascination. He officially hated hospitals, and the stupid rule about no pets allowed during testing, although he grinned when he remembered that it had taken three burly grunts to remove a growling Raito and that they had been the ones with the most damage after Harry waved his hand to let Asmodeus know that he had better leave so they could get this over with.

"What's so funny?" There was a teasing note beneath the hostility and Harry picked up on it enough to know that he could get away with merely smiling coyly and whispering, "Nothing."

"No, tell me!"

"It's just that I like how protective you are." Harry's face was red and he wasn't sure why he had said that aloud since it was quite embarrassing. Asmodeus rested his chin on Harry's shoulder and whispered, "I like protecting you. Knowing that you are as safe as possible makes me feel like I'm doing what I was always meant to do, and that your existence gives me a meaning for my own."

Harry was touched, but snickered at the overly-romantic confession anyways, inducing the Demon to smack his shoulder and lay back on the bed while still holding Harry so he ended up next to him on the warm coverlet. It would seem that Harry had accidentally left the warming charm from several mornings ago as protection against the frigidity of the winter chills still active, although it was hardly bothersome to his magic, since it required so little of it. The Yule Ball was in several days and Harry wondered who he should ask, since he'd gone with Cho last time and she was still nursing a strange affection for him that he did his best to discourage while retaining her friendship. She was a bit sentimental, but other than that she was excellent company and he really didn't want to hurt her feelings. Perhaps by inviting some other girl to go with him he might make her become cooler to him?

He sat up, ignoring Asmodeus' childish whine and attempts to pull him back down to where he could reach his neck and kiss it, deep in thought. The Demon grabbed once more, fitfully, at his stomach, and Harry conceded to his whims, laying down on him and petting under his chin with a finger idly while his thoughts raced through the various females he knew. Most of them would no doubt have already have procured dates, so he would have to ask around and see who was going with whom tomorrow morning. He kissed the soft skin that he'd been pampering, smiling and closing his eyes when, through some acrobatic movement of his muscles, Asmodeus kissed his eyelids, forehead, the tip of his nose, and finally, almost shyly, his lips.

He drifted into sleep, finally feeling safe enough to do so since he had been constantly watched while in the Hospital and entirely unable to relax enough to even close his eyes, much less make himself so vulnerable as to fall asleep.

--

The next day dawned gloomy and overcast, but by now that was nothing new. A few snowflakes fluttered amongst the students, glittering and getting stuck in their eyes as they trudged to classes that had previously not seemed so far from each other. Harry had by now discovered that Millicent and Cho were the only girls left without dates, although it wasn't from lack of offers to Cho. Millicent was too scary for normal boys, so Harry asked her to go with him if she wanted to, and she said yes but only on the condition that they didn't dance, which he had no problem conceding to since he shared her opinion that dancing was kind of pointless and not fun at all if you were clumsy like she was.

Cho's look of heartbreak upon discovering that he had asked Millicent Bulstrode over her made him feel like a bastard, but he didn't have a choice. Leading her on would be even worse. Several hours later Harry heard that she'd asked Ron Weasley to go with her, since she'd built up a friendly competition with him on the Quidditch Field once it was back on the list of school activities once more, and Ron had sat with them at the Ravenclaw Table at dinner. Not that they had games this time of year, but it didn't stop the enthusiasts from practicing in the snow and freezing wind or from it being something of a hot topic amongst those who actually went to watch the games for reasons other than having nothing else to do or a chance to boo at people they didn't like.

Harry noticed Ron trying to be inconspicuous while inhaling his scent, and grinned. Maybe he should arrange to have him run into Asmodeus in Human form by 'accident', or even just a random Creature from Below. He was sure that it would be very interesting to watch his reactions to a first-hand dose of the smell, and wondered if he would pass out or something and why it seemed to affect him when his own friends didn't even seem to notice it. Maybe it was because his friends were around him enough to have gotten used to it? It was something he would need to look into.

--

The day of the ball was so cold that Harry wondered if they would have to call it off. He was proven wrong when he arrived early and saw the Headmaster, who had been looking steadily older and more stressed out as time wore on and various negative rumors about him were confirmed with evidence and displayed in the Daily Prophet, casting powerful heating charms and creating new fireplaces in the Great Hall in case those failed. He looked frail and deep in thought as he did so, so Harry had to, of course, approach him and engage him in a mindless conversation about what kind of charms he was using and why.

He could tell he had irritated the old man thoroughly by the time he had exhausted himself of any possible questions he could have on the subject and left the Hall with a bounce in his step and a cheerful smile playing on his lips.

He didn't notice the eyes of an ice statue preserved under a freezing spell following him.

--

The Ball was fun because he spent it talking to Millicent about everything that came to mind while watching students go out for some 'air' and return considerably rumpled and flushed while grinning at each other or blushing shyly. He didn't often get a chance to really talk with the tall girl, and it was nice to hear her express herself since she was normally so reserved. He found out that she was deathly afraid of heights and it was because of an accident that occurred during her early childhood involving being swung high into the air by an older brother who promised to catch her but missed. She'd broken her collarbone and right arm in three places and still got twinges from it. Her brother and she had never been very close since, because she had trouble trusting him even though she knew it had been an accident.

His evening was sort of ruined towards the end when he'd felt himself being watched steadily and unable to see who it was. he would probably end up in a 'special' wing of St. Mungo's for being so damned paranoid. There was probably nobody watching him anyway and he was just overreacting…

--

End chapter 28

Geez, 28 chapters already? Review to celebrate!

Oh, and should I do something special for Friday the 13th?


	29. Chapter 29

A/N: question still stands about Friday the 13th, people…

CHAPTER 29

Christmas break was pleasant, but a little lonely for the first few days since his friends had all been dragged off to family celebrations or foreign countries and his boyfriend had received a black envelope from a seething Arch Angel Michael who had looked about ready to remove the hefty and gleaming sword from his back to slice Asmodeus in half when the Demon _dared _to talk to him and ask how he'd been roped into the role of messenger boy again, and then tacked on an innocent inquiry as to Lucifer's health.

Harry still laughed about the look on the redhead's face and the way he'd gripped the hilt of his sword so tightly that it bent a little. Asmodeus had returned four long days later, and that night Harry had found a long cut down the inside of his arm that was fresh enough to have a pristine bandage stained in some places with red wrapped tightly around it. He gently touched it and asked how that had happened somewhat fearfully. He knew that his fears were irrational because there was no worse place besides Hell, only the peaceful abyss that surrounded the triad of the layers, but he worried anyway and wondered how much pain his loved one could be subjected to.

To soothe him, Asmodeus told him that he barely felt a thing even though that was a lie, because sometimes the truth shouldn't be told when it could do too much damage to be revealed. Truthfully, he'd been clawed by the Beast itself once it had once more escaped from its bonds. Thank the Lord that the four horsemen were still slumbering in the ashes of their resting places, or else the End that was being so viciously to its start would have been impossible to stop. Well, unless they had some decent help, but the Vampires were almost too embittered with their own existence to care much for the rest of the Earth, most of which despised or even hunted them, forcing them back underground and into their wildernesses that no Mortal could enter and leave alive. Well, except for Voldemort but most of the supernatural beings who knew about that had long since doubted whether or not the Dark Lord could even be described as Human anymore.

Humming softly when Harry found that one spot by his ear that was still sensitive with his fingertips, he took a careful sip of the Brandy his companion had forced on him to numb the pain (seriously, people, Brandy works a helluva lot better than over-the-counter pain killers, even though it tastes like paint thinner mixed with piss). The teenager settled down after a little while, resting a hand flat against where Asmodeus' heart would normally be if he hadn't traded it yesterday to a curious female Vampire in exchange for her to take a large blood sample of the Beast so they could see if it had been tampered with. Its last guards hadn't exactly been demoted to Grigori state for no reason, after all.

He kissed Harry's forehead in answer to Harry's soft question of why he couldn't feel his heartbeat anymore.

"I'll tell you later, love."

--

Christmas Break seemed to go by in a flash after Asmodeus returned from his impromptu mission, and the pervading feeling of being watched continued. Nothing had happened to either him or Asmodeus, and he kept tracking charms on the staff now to see if it was them, but none of them were ever in the area. He'd caught Dumbledore trying to sneak up on him once, but he had known he was there without consulting his alert system.

Sitting in the Great Hall with all the students who had returned from spending time with their families, flushed and happy and he spotted several new couples with slight disgust. Valentine's Day this year was going to be hell.

The headmaster stood up, waving his arms to quiet them down since his authority had seriously waned lately and judging from the looks on the students faces, their parent's opinions of the older man had been instilled fully during the two week stint of their absence.

"Now, students, I have managed to locate and hire a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, and allow me to assure you that she will be nothing like the last one you were subjected to." Loud cheers and applause went up after this, and even Harry joined in, grinning with everyone else but still retaining a wary edge. Their Headmaster could very well have hired one of his own lackeys who would read their minds or something equally heinous. "I introduce to you Jacinthe Le Mort, and her assistant Achille Washington!" A blonde woman with a mess of small tight curls stood and bowed stiffly along with a tall man with features so ordinary you had trouble remembering what he looked like after you stopped seeing him. The only thing that stood out about him was his teeth, which seemed to glint a little too much to be passed off as a trick of the light. Jacinthe had the same, but she wasn't smiling politely like he was so it was harder to tell.

They smelled different and their auras were shaped very similarly to Vladimir's, so Harry decided that they must also be Vampires, and that they were either considerably older, a different breed, or both. Jacinthe suddenly looked at him, and he grinned at her when he noticed that the brown glamours over her eyes were concealing their rich shade of burgundy. She was indeed a different breed, and was probably in some sort of Vampire royalty rank. Her head was tilted slightly to the side and her nostrils flared, so he knew she had picked up his scent and possibly that of Asmodeus and death as well.

He waved and she quickly looked away, fiddling with her silverware but not eating anything.

--

Luna was carefully applying a new layer of bright orange nail polish to her fingertips when Harry climbed in through her window, a hovering broom remaining obediently outside the window.

"You ready?"

"Almost, just let me finish and dry these quick." She reached for her wand and flicked it so the bright liquid solidified without a wrinkle or smudge. "Let me go get Cho, alright?" Her dormitory was empty save for a petite brunette sleeping on the bed against the far wall, and the silence was broken only by a softly ticking clock and the girl's quiet breathing. Harry nodded and waited while she left for the dormitory next to hers that held the 5th year girls, returning a moment later with a fully dressed Cho with a broom tucked under her arm and a first year girl standing close behind her, a lolly in her mouth.

"Um…" Harry looked from Cho to the little girl and Cho blinked before grinning and saying that it was her cousin who wanted to come with them since they were just going for a walk after all.

"Okay, that's fine." He turned and headed for the open window, Luna climbing onto the broom in front of him after a brief discussion of their broom experience. They flew all the way up to the flatter sections of the roof where various students were wandering around, dressed warmly against the wind and some with brooms casually over their shoulders.

There had been an unofficial consensus that there should be an inter-House reunion party after the Christmas Holidays, so now they were all crammed up on the various balconies and turret tops of the Castle that couldn't be reached except through broom or some other form of aerial travel because the doors leading to them had been sealed by the Ministry several hundred years ago in a hopeless effort to prevent the mass suicide that had occurred because of an emotional attack from a Dark Lord on everyone under 20. They hadn't been reopened, the staff apparently pushing it far below their priorities.

Already Ted Knott and the Weasley twins were fiddling with the wards, Ted already removing several on multiple entrances so they were weak enough for other students to try their hand at unlocking them. The spells were Ministry-grade, which was all very well for the first 50 years of the spells life but after that they started to rot and weaken until they were merely supported by the band that had been the initial blast of magic.

By three in the morning, all of the wards had been torn down throughout the entire roof and balcony system of the Castle, and the students scuttled off to bed, all very glad that tomorrow was a Saturday.

--

End chapter 29

Okay, what do you guys think of Jacinthe and Achille so far? I know you haven't seen much of either, Achille has been introduced before and Jacinthe has been mentioned briefly but not in name. Any opinions are more than welcome.


	30. Chapter 30

CHAPTER 30

Waking at 8 in the morning, still long before everybody else, Harry went to the showers and found the shower head that was reliable to not shut off in the middle of his shower or turn cold after the first 15 minutes. Since his hair had gotten longer he now needed more time to make sure that he had washed it properly because if it was improperly cleaned it tended to stick to his neck and forehead in a limp, greasy mess. The one time Daphne had seen him having a bad hair day she had laughingly said that he looked like Snape with a permanent curl. He'd smacked her arm for that comment and stolen her bacon.

He was just finishing rinsing the soap from his hair when he heard the door to the dormitory showers open and quietly close behind whoever it was. He ignored them, thinking that it was probably a half asleep Draco coming in to wake up with a blast of cold water. He was proven wrong when someone gently removed his fingers from his hair and replaced them with their own, removing the suds far more effectively. He was pretty sure he knew who it was now, unless a pervert had suddenly felt the urge to enter the 5th year dormitories.

With the danger of getting soap in them removed, he opened his eyes and smiled at Asmodeus' reflection in the wet tiles, not minding at all that they were both naked and entirely alone since he had become far more comfortable with the idea and no longer considering it something he should feel awkward about. Everybody was naked under their clothes, right?

The Demon turned him around so they faced each other, eyes soft and lips upturned slightly before leaning down and kissing him slowly, taking his time since everybody else would be passed out for a while.

--

Exiting the bathroom half an hour later, clean and flushed scarlet from something Asmodeus had said, he got dressed quickly before the Demon could decide to pay him anymore pleasurable but time-consuming favors and headed down to the Great Hall to eat before going to the Lake to visit Hedwig and the Giant Squid.

The Great Hall was almost completely empty, the staff looking quite confused as to the student's whereabouts and a few first years that had left early last night keeping their heads down so they wouldn't attract attention.

Shaking his head, Harry helped himself to some toast and tea, munching on it while opening up a large book on whether or not the Grim actually existed. Draco joined him several minutes later, and taught him a new trick with Tarot cards that would allow you to cheat the magic of the cards and automatically show a false happy future for the one you were divining for. It was a common thing to do to Muggles, Draco said, and that many people were easily drawn in by the elusive and fanciful things shown by the cards enough that they repeatedly attended upon the same diviner, which would mean extra money.

Harry rolled his eyes at him and asked if that was how the Malfoys made all their money. Draco smacked his hand and huffily replied that his great-grandmother had been a very good fortune-teller and had supported the entire family during a hard time during a rough patch created by the Dark Lord Grindelwald, although a lot of speculation about just how dark Grindelwald had actually been had been raised thanks to the new evidence revealing increasingly upsetting facts about Albus Dumbledore. There was much talk of having the Headmaster removed since most parents didn't want him around their children anymore, and it was only a matter of time before he was replaced by the Deputy Headmistress Minerva McGonagall.

Taking a sip of his juice, Harry used a different variation of the trick that occurred to him, turning the cards into bad futures and grinning at Draco. "Sorry, mate, but you're going to die cold and alone in a ditch after being robbed and beaten by your worst enemy."

"Oh, shut up!"

"What? The cards don't lie!" They laughed and packed up their stuff, heading in different directions, Draco to the library and Harry to the great outdoors to actually get some fresh air for once.

--

Sitting cross legged on the frozen ground close to the lake with a smoking cigarette between two tobacco-stained fingers, Harry tossed in alternately rolls of stale bread and rotting meat that the House Elves had given him to feed to the Giant Squid and Hedwig. Every now and then they would raise either their scaly head or a pink tentacle to snag one of the treats from the air or to seize one floating on the water.

Luna had come and gone a few minutes ago, having approached him to say goodbye before she went home to tend to her father and most likely do some business that night so she would have money to pay the taxes that year. She'd kissed his cheek before leaving, stealing one of his cigarettes from the open packet sticking out of his bag and lighting it with some 'accidental' magic.

He was a little cold, but not in the mood to leave the peacefulness of the Lake behind him just yet. A little bit of a wind had picked up, stirring the waves and blowing his hair haphazardly around his face, limiting his sight and concealing from him to approach of the new Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor. Jacinthe seated herself on a rocky outcropping about three feet from him, swinging her legs like a little girl in the open air between them and the ground. Harry pushed back his hair and looked at her with mild curiosity to see if she needed anything before turning back to the Lake and tossing the last roll to the Squid and wrapping up the clothes that they had been given to him in carefully and stuffing them in the basket before taking a long drag of his cigarette. He rested his back against a smooth rock, tilting his head back so he could examine the darker clouds racing across the pale grey of the sky. It was going to snow soon, but he still didn't get up, the cigarette having lulled him into a sense of well-being with the world. Jacinthe silently watched him, eyes flickering in the dull sunlight and making her glow a little.

She was definitely a Vampire, but what was she doing at Hogwarts? Harry hoped she wasn't sent to spy on him or something because he already had the feeling of being stared at and a second set of eyes just might make him lose it and things tended to get very hard to pass off as an accident when he was angry.

"Did you have something to say to me?" Harry politely asked after several minutes of steady gazing from her. He opened his eyes and met hers dead-on because it would show that he wasn't afraid of her.

"Not exactly… I was merely wondering how long you have been dead."

He inhaled sharply. "Excuse me?"

"Oh, well I just assumed you were a corporeal ghost because you smell like blood, death, and there is a very strong scent of the afterlife and something else I do not know. In fact, it's so strong that I think it's safe to assume that you spend a lot of time there. Perhaps at night you spend it Above or Below and then by day you attend here?"

"Um…actually, I'm pretty sure I'm alive, ma'am. I _was, _in fact, quite dead for a short period of time during my early childhood, but some things happened and I was brought back to the land of the living shortly afterwards."

She blinked. "How…how is something like that possible?"

"Well, it was quite simple, really. Unfortunately I'm not at liberty to tell you the exact circumstances as they are not my secrets to share, but I can assure you that I am fully living, to the best of my knowledge at least, and the blood scent you smell is most likely from a wrist injury I received a few days ago." He rolled up his sleeve and revealed to her the white bandage tightly wrapped around his thin wrist and from the way her eyes darkened to a deeper shade of red he supposed that he had been correct.

"Alright then; what about the smell?"

"Can't tell you that Miss."

"Why not?"

"None of your business and I actually don't know for sure myself."

"How can you not know?"

"It's a simple matter of the information not being imparted to me or available to a child such as myself." She snickered at the child remark, snagging one of his cigarettes before he could tell her off.

"Oi! Do you mind?"

"Its either this or I tell on you about smoking underage."

"Touché."

"Indeed. Now what was your name, young man?"

"Harry Potter. Madam Le Mort, yes?"

"Sure, although I don't have a surname. I just made that one up to be a little more legitimate."

"Hmm, thought so. I'm guessing you're the Jacinthe married to Eirikr."

"How did you know that?!" She snapped, devoting her entire attention to him now.

"Oh, I have my connections." He replied, breezily waving his free hand and then taking a long careful drag of his cigarette while smirking at her. She scowled.

"I'll get you, young man, just watch yourself." They grinned at each other and he offered her some Vodka, which she declined saying that she never drank it straight like that.

--

End chapter 30

W00t! 30 chapters, my darlings!


	31. Chapter 31

CHAPTER 31

Madam Le Mort and Mr. Washington proved to be capable and coherent teachers, and they immediately leapt into the curriculum instead of starting off with a few weeks of introductions to the topics like most of their previous teachers. Jacinthe insisted that since it was so late in the year they needed to accelerate the lessons and make sure that the students could practice the spells in case they were attacked by anyone. The students were so happy to be practicing magic in class again that they had no complaints about her method of sneaking up behind them unnoticed and correcting their posture, not that there was much to correct after Harry's Defense Association, but some students hadn't been members so they were behind everyone else.

Harry discovered that he had to constantly restrain his magic and other skills tightly around the Vampire and her lackey, not sure how they would react and even though he highly doubted it, they could be working for someone like Dumbledore or whoever was watching him most of the time. Achille had come to stand very close to him during a dueling session in which he was versus Dean Thomas of Gryffindor House, and Harry had almost lost the duel while shielding his thoughts from the man. He gave him a disgruntled look after blasting Thomas' wand out of his hand, pretending that his proximity restricted his movements despite having proven previously that he was fully capable of moving around him.

"Yes sir?"

"You have excellent technique and your posture is flawless. Do you have experience in this field?"

"Um, not much, actually; I just did what the book said, and while our previous professor taught here I was the leader of a small dueling club where we practiced this sort of thing." The Defense Association could hardly be called 'small', but he wasn't about to reveal that he had practically taught Defense and whatever else he thought the students would want to learn for fun in whichever field he was interested in at the moment. No one had complained.

"I see. Carry on." He moved away, approaching a group of Gryffindors and correcting one of their wand movements which were hampering their ability to aim. Harry stared after him thoughtfully, wondering what he was up to and why in the hell everybody always targeted him for stuff. Couldn't somebody _else, _who actually wanted the attention too, have all the creepy people pay attention to them?

Shaking his head to end the pity party he had started, he made his way over to Pansy and Draco to kick one or both of them in the shins before they could entirely forget that they were in class and not alone or in a safe place with supportive people where it would be acceptable to snog each other. He ended up connecting his boot with the seat of Draco's pants, shaking his head at him when the blonde glowered at him. However, he did move his arm to wrap carefully around Pansy's shoulders while they observed the students still dueling because they messed up the first couple of times.

Harry drank some Gin tonic and opened up their new textbook, turning to the section meant for next lesson so he would be prepared. Pre-emptive strikes were his specialty, after all.

--

Luna hummed quietly under her breath as she dressed in her dormitory, her house mates on the other side of the room in an attempt to make her feel ostracized and failing miserably. She wanted no part in their foolish dependency on books and utter ignorance of how the real world worked. There was no room for children in her life, and she wasn't going to waste time acquiring some.

Lacing her boots with care, smiling fondly at the laces patterned with daisies that Ginny had bought her for her birthday last year, she shouldered a bag containing some research books she was returning to the library and left the dorm silently, the door not making its usual clicking noise behind her as the hinges connected with the wood of the walls.

She waved absently to Cho on the way out, and the Asian girl waved back from her place sprawled on a couch surrounded by her homework, working hard to get it complete before it was due tomorrow.

Madam Pince silently acknowledged her when she set the books carefully on the counter, and handed her some ones that she had reserved earlier. Normally the librarian wouldn't do favors of any kind for the wayward students, but she considered Miss Lovegood to be an exception since she usually returned books in better condition than when she'd received them, was polite, and of course quiet.

Finding Harry in their meeting place with that massive cat of his napping on the floor by his feet, she grinned at him and gingerly avoided stepping on the snowy tail as she craned her neck to peck Harry's cheek. He smiled vaguely at her and she could tell that he was worried about something but didn't ask. If he wanted to tell her he would without being nagged and prodded, which would merely make him shut himself into a shell and not tell her anything even if he wanted to. "So, what did you need to talk about?" She asked cheerfully, opening the window they were next to and lighting a cigarette.

"There is another person watching me, and it is somehow seeing through all of my wards and protective measures. I have protected myself against every known way to observe someone, and yet whoever this person or thing is, they keep watching me! I don't know what to do, so I figured I should tell you since you are good at this sort of thing."

"Well, how long has this person been watching you?"

"I'm not sure. It could have been years and I wouldn't have noticed."

"Shite…" Luna hissed, clenching her hands and mentally reviewing all of the ways people could observe someone else, both magical and Muggle. Occasionally she asked him if he was protected against a certain something and he would reply yes, and that he had checked through all of his defenses for weaknesses of any kind and found them to be as sound as they were when he had first set them.

"Do you know anyone who could want to do so?"

"A lot of people, and none of them are pleasant or the sort of person I want peering into my personal life." His eyes unconsciously drifted towards Raito and Luna's eyes narrowed as she added yet another piece to the puzzle of who could be giving Harry the love bites she sometimes spied from under his shirt or by his neck, mostly concealed with his hair or a flippant glamour. Her eyes caught sight of something blue and she whipped her head to stare straight into the eyes of a carved gargoyle by the window they were sitting next to. Its eyes were a brilliant blue while the other creatures had the same stone they were made of for eyes.

"Harry…" She groped for his arm, pointing to the thing. The eyes moved back and forth between them and she blinked.

"Do you feel watched right now?"

"Yes, why?"

"Is it coming from there?"

As one they turned to look at it and then stared harder when the eyes abruptly disappeared, reappearing higher up where Luna noticed them again a few seconds later.

"Yeah! Its definitely coming from there-" He was cut off by Madam Pince coming in out of nowhere and bashing him on the back of the head with a library book for being so noisy. She ignored Luna's participation in it, bludgeoning the brunette two more times before stalking off in a huff. They looked at each other and then cracked up, Luna stuffing her fist in her mouth and Harry burying his face in his arms to muffle to the noise. They woke Raito and laughed harder when the feline looked incredibly disoriented, large head swinging back and forth. And then in front of Luna's eyes he shrunk until he was a kitten, hopping with ease up into Harry's laugh and crawling up his sweater to settle by his neck, rubbing his nose against the soft skin there and purring before slipping back into sleep.

"Is that…normal cat behavior?"

"No, but who said I have to have a normal cat?" Harry asked, eyes wide and attempting to be innocent. The harsh gleam in them sort of ruined the effect, but he did succeed in making Luna remember how damned nice his eyes were.

"Nice laces by the way."

"Thanks!"

--

Gellert leaned back in his chair, eyes closed and a hand rubbing over his face in an attempt to relax. Ingrid had helped immensely when he'd asked her about different methods of spying not commonly known, and she showed up one day with a massive tome detailing all the different techniques that hadn't been used in at least 500 years because it meant they were no longer listed in the modern books and therefore could not be detected.

He'd nearly kissed her for that, and then become extremely worried as to where she had gotten the book in the first place. She had some very interesting connections, it would seem, and he would have tried to spy on her if he didn't have a sense of self-preservation. Ingrid was, after all, the sort of woman who wouldn't think twice about castrating someone simply because she felt they had offended her. he hated to think about what sort of gruesome fate her ex-husband she had mentioned once in passing had suffered.

Flipping through a stack of papers after setting his observation spell onto record so he could scan it later, he pulled out a request for flower-shaped soaps from the Goblins working for them. They plead that the cheerful-shaped soaps brightened their day after hours of delightful mining gold and then having to hand over their winnings to the Humans who ultimately controlled the monetary system in the Magical World. He agreed to it and threw in some heart-shaped ones as well as a bonus. God only knows that those Goblins worked themselves to the bone for the Light Wizards and deserved some humane treatment. He wrote in his calendar to visit them since it had been a while since he had and he'd always liked them. They had clever minds and quick hands coupled with a wonderful work ethic. If only more Humans were as admirable.

--

End chapter 31

A little longer today, because I love you all so very much 


	32. Chapter 32

A/N: cackle Happy Friday the 13th

CHAPTER 32

Lucifer paced the Hall of Moaning rapidly, Satan not bothering to keep up but rather amusing himself by creating new nightmares for those unfortunate enough to have landed themselves in it today, not that the inmates knew any difference from one day to the next. Science has proven that pain has a very disorienting effect and if the pain is not constantly changed, over time the victim will become accustomed to it and no longer feel anything. Hence the new Halls and Devices and Rooms and Auditoriums where humiliation and disgusting acts were performed or suffered, most of them are born out of the boredom of the Human's similar plights and daily complaints. Satan put the final finishing touches on a hallucination and then sent it into the minds of ten randomly picked souls on the other side of the clear wall separating the Demons from the torture chambers. Lucifer spared a moment to look it over, sending an impressed look to the redhead before continuing his pacing. A mumble of words came from under his breath, and he ran both hands through his hair distractedly, long legs carrying him rapidly from one end of the mistakenly thought-of endless hall to the other.

Satan did not know what was bothering him so much, but he was sure that once the Boss had gotten the words arranged the way he wanted them he would tell him, because there was no other reason for the Dragon to be wandering in his domains like this. It had been a few thousand years since he had last seen him so distraught, but it was none of his business until included and he had no desire to be demoted to a Grigori, so he continued to keep his peace. He lit a cigarette and leaned against the glass, one forearm at level with his forehead so he could lean against it.

The Dragon froze mid-step, whirled around, and came to a stop beside the other Demon.

"Satan…I…"

"Yes, sir?" He removed the cigarette from his mouth and turned his head so a yellow eye trained on the distraught leader of their little parade of misery. Normally he would have offered him one, but it would most likely break his concentration and then there would be yet more pacing.

"Beelzebub needs…needs…."

"Needs what?" This was not good. Beelzebub was the oldest of them and, though it was unofficial, their true leader because in the end the Red-Eyed one had seen far more than they and would ultimately take care of all of them.

Lucifer took a deep breath and released it slowly, rubbing his palms along his thighs, probably to wipe off sweat or something. "He needs a new favor."

"Shit, really?"

"Yes, and I can't do it alone like last time."

Satan paused on his way to taking another drag of his smoking stick of tobacco. "What do you need me to do?"

"In that school for Magic, Hogwarts, two of the highest-ranking Vampires from the EVA (European Vampire Alliance) have taken up residence and he wants to know why and for us to convert them to the cause if at all possible. The Beast is growing more vicious with every passing day and he cannot rely as much on his strength as before, so we will need to have the Vampires present since it would be needlessly cruel of us to simply tear the power we gave to them so long ago away and to reabsorb. This way we can use our original strength and still not get into a bizarre battle with disillusioned ex-Vampires. Who knows what they've done with out gift anyway?"

"True. Do you know which Vampires? This can either be really easy or a major pain depending on which ones we've got to attempt negotiations with. I think we all remember what happened that one time with you-know-who." He shuddered.

"It could be a lot worse…its Jacinthe and Achille."

"Oh, well then this shouldn't really be a big issue."

"Exactly. And I might have some information for Achille that will indebt him to me."

"Jacinthe owes Levi a favor, too, so that could be used. But now we have the problem of convincing Blondie that this is a good venture for him to help with."

"No worries there." Echoed Leviathan's voice from above their heads with a hint of amusement underneath the casual words; they looked up, sighing exasperatedly when they realized that the Demon of Envy had probably been there for hours, sticking to the rafters in the form of an owl with jade eyes and snow-white plumage.

"Leviathan, how nice of you to invite yourself to a private meeting without my permission; you know I love it when you do that and don't feel the urge to wring that thin little neck of yours at all." Lucifer sarcastically greeted, stealing Satan's cigarette and taking a long drag before handing it back and signaling that he wanted his own.

Satan sighed and pulled out his pack and lighter, handing both to Lucifer and scowling darkly at the grinning blond who had impudently held out his hand to show that he wanted one too.

"No cigarettes for eaves-droppers."

"Fine. I won't collect my favor from Jacinthe, then."

"Goddammit!" Satan muttered, signaling for Lucifer to pass the supplies to the blond with a tight wave of his hand and stubbing out his own.

"Now about Jacinthe…"

--

The Vampires had finished teaching for the day and were enjoying the lull between dinner and the last class of the day's end with vials of preserved blood and some brandy. Their created paradise was rudely interrupted by a flare of powerful surge of something worse than Blackest Magick.

Three Demons appeared in blasts of smoke, two of them smoking and one looking very irritated with them while drinking out of a small bottle of what must have been something very strong because he looked drastically happier afterwards. Jacinthe recognized the attractive (they all were, actually) blond as the strange 'sorcerer' who had done her such a wonderful service 20 years ago. He hadn't aged a bit, and she wondered if he was under some sort of anti-aging Potion and if so, which one? Most left at least some sign of their presence, or she could smell it. He smelled like the afterlife, smoke, and a strange but delightfully delicate undertone of something else that she had smelled recently on someone else. She wracked her brains, trying to remember who when suddenly it hit her. That one delinquent-esque student, the one who she'd shared a smoke with a few days ago! Her eyes narrowed. This was a very interesting development and she would need to keep an eye on that boy. God knows what he was up to; walking about smelling like a Morgue mixed with a yummy something underneath …he would not survive long around newer Vampires who had not learned to control themselves around Humans, that was for sure.

"Can I help you?" Achille asked, not bothering to hide his accent like he did with the students.

"Yes, you can. We require a bit of your time and a lot of dedication for a few brief moments in which you can assist to preserve your current way of life." Replied the one in the middle, taking a drag of his cigarette and tossing an errant strand of black hair with a twist of his neck behind his ear, his eyes trained on both of them at the same time despite that being physically impossible last time Jacinthe had checked.

"Pardon?"

"I need you to help us for a little while, three days at the very most, to restrain something that, if let loose, will destroy this Earth, Hell, and Heaven in their present forms very quickly, and we will not be able to re-capture it or clean up the damage."

"….Really? I could have sworn things like that no longer existed or were locked up…." Jacinthe trailed off, speaking for the first time.

"Nothing like that can die, madam." The redhead spoke, his voice raspy and uncomfortably reminding her of the bite of a whip and the tickling horror of being held over an open flame and being burned alive. She shivered and sunk back into the Chesterfield sofa politely provided in their lounge connected to the general office.

"It was bound for too long and left to its own devices. Naturally, because it is unfortunately a Beast of great cunning, it worked free many of the wards holding it down. If one of our own had not decided to check up on it for the first time in many thousands of years, it would have escaped and we would not have noticed until the very Halls that were first built to house us and our kind fell down around us in hapless wreckage." The redhead finished on a note that made her feel as if a bolt of thunder would not be out of place.

"What can we do, then?"

"As we mentioned before, come with us for a little while this weekend when you are not needed here and loan us some of the power we gave your ancestors ages ago to allow you to live far beyond the original limits."

Her mouth worked as she began to realize just who, or rather what, they were. "You're…you're Them!"

"Them as in Demons, yes?" The middle one spoke up again.

"Uh, yes…this is…this is a great honor, my Lord." She stood to bow, Achille doing the same, but were waved off by the Demon.

"Save subservience for God. We're just messengers and managers at best. Will you do it for us, though? We are in desperate need of any extra force we can get, for the Beast has grown big and strong from eating the souls that no longer feel the agony of our realm but have not finished their punishment."

"S-Sure. Do you just need us or should we rally our people to help fight as well? And where should we meet you?"

"As many as you can convince to come before this Friday would be opportune. We will meet in the Mountains of Mashu where the Beast is contained on the 12th hour of the sun's passage across the sky." Satan said, taking another drink of what she really didn't want to know what it was. For all she knew it could be boiled body fluids. "Oh, and a Superior of ours was curious about why you are in a Human school for magical children?"

"Oh, um, we were supposed to figure out where this powerful aura was coming from and it led us here. There are too many youngsters with unstable magic for us to tell at once, but we have chosen a few candidates who it could be coming from, though. Eirikr wants to make sure that it is not a threat to us, and if possible we are to befriend the carrier so if they get angry, our people will not be abolished."

"A wise decision on his part. I hope to see him this Friday. We take our leave now." They vanished as quickly as they had come, leaving Jacinthe feeling as though her heart would be racing if she had one. She looked over at Achille and he shrugged, removing a heavy chain from around his neck and unfastening a key from it so he could open a communication device and start spreading the word about the mission.

Jacinthe finished her drink and then did the same, hoping against hope that they would be enough to hold back the end of everything they had worked so long to create.

--

End chapter 32

This chapter was dedicated to the Demons that harassed my Muse into harassing me into writing this in the first place. Happy Friday the 13th, boys.

Review, please! I starve without them.


	33. Chapter 33

CHAPTER 33

Harry's eye twitched when he felt the powerful auras depart from the grounds, wondering who they had been and what they had wanted. It hadn't felt like Angels, so it was Creature, Human, or Demon… possibly all three, now that he thought about it.

He nudged Asmodeus awake with his heel, whispering to him that he had felt something happen. Yellow eyes opened sluggishly and fixed on him, an eyebrow rising in question.

"Did you feel that?" Harry asked breathlessly, having experienced a less powerful but much unexpected thrust of new magic. It fanned out over the Castle and split off in many different directions, and Harry strained his mind to feel the where it ended but it went many thousands of miles, across seas and oceans and then his mind and magic hit a brick wall trying to follow it. The wall was almost tangible, and looked like hazy smoke to his Inner Eye when he sent it to inspect the situation. He closed his eyes and sank down on the bed, resting his head where Asmodeus' ribs ended and his warm vital organs heated his face.

"Yes." The Demon said into the quiet of the room, rubbing Harry's head and contemplating what all of this meant. Harry purred, feeling drowsy already from the unasked for head massage that his boyfriend knew relaxed him. Asmodeus had heard what Lucifer said and knew that he would be summoned at the last minute as was his Lord's custom, but it didn't stop him from being irritated at not being allowed to know the full plans like the others. Was he being shunned? What had he done?

He brushed aside his darkening thoughts and kissed the top of Harry's head before joining him in sleep, the onslaught of dreams a welcome change from the metaphorical clouds of worry and even grudging fear that had briefly enveloped him.

--

When he awoke, Harry had gone. Most likely to eat dinner before the House Elves put away the food or to study with his friends amongst the endless shelves of the library; he relaxed against the pillows and wondered if he should follow him. Maybe he wanted to be alone? Ignoring his swirling thoughts, he stood and stretched briefly before assuming the form of Harry's familiar and padded silently through the halls of the Castle until he found his scent, on a newly-opened balcony of all things. Moving closer, he caught sight of him leaning against the fragile iron railing, smoking and enjoying the stars that could be seen clearly from so high up. On a balcony next to his a boy and girl were shyly holding hands, and Asmodeus wondered if it was selfish and impatient of him to want to do the same, where other people could see them instead of hiding all the time like the shadowy thing he was.

He appeased himself by rubbing himself against Harry's leg, purring to show Harry that he was happy to be there, and that he didn't need anything.

Harry continued to smoke, smiling down at him between bouts of star gazing. Some time later, far past curfew and when Harry was working on his fifth cigarette and seated on the freezing stone floor they were joined by a dazed-looking Luna, who collapsed onto a bench and was asleep in moments, her head lolling to the side and revealing a large scratch down the side of her neck that did not look like it had been an accident.

Since no one was around and Harry told him that he did not feel like he was being watched, he transformed into his humanistic body and lifted the too-light 4th year, carrying her to the Room of Requirement while Harry kept an eye out for the various authority figures who monitored the halls at night, carrying the girl's over night bag that was mostly empty by now, the empty Potion and liquor bottles making muffled clanking noises before he silenced them.

They set up the Room to look like her bedroom at home, but with enough differences so she would not panic and think that she had gone home instead of back to school by accident. Before curling up between her and his boyfriend, Harry set a spell that would wake them two hours before breakfast so she could sneak back to her dorm and get cleaned up.

--

End chapter 33

Sorry about how short it is, but I cleaned house today with mainstream chemicals and I'm not sure exactly what they did, but my fingernails are delicate now and it hurts to type for too long. Love you all!


	34. Chapter 34

A/N: I have almost finished the novel 'Lolita' by Vladimir Nabokov and am very impressed with it. I highly recommend it to anyone that actually reads these notes.

CHAPTER 34

The Great Hall went dead silent when two battalions of Aurors led by the new High Secretary of the Ministry arrested the Headmaster under charges of treason, deception of the Ministry itself, and illegal Dark Magic use. Most students were shocked, in their childish ignorance believing that their beloved beacon of the light, so-called victor for the cause could never have actually done everything that he was accused of. But those who had actually opened their eyes and finally seen the old man for what he was were greatly relieved, knowing that they would be far safer now that his poisonous presence would be absent from the hallowed halls of their school. Students who had been removed from the school for their protection by enraged parents returned the next day, happy and filled with their parent's rumors and prejudices against the great deceiver.

His few supporters were much crushed, and anxiously hoped that his hearing, scheduled on Sunday, ironically a holy day for such a sinful man, would shed some light on new evidence that might show that the accusations were false. Somehow Harry didn't think that likely. Also, he could have sworn he saw Professor Snape holding Professor McGonagall's hand under the table, if the way their arms were tilting was any indication, he had ended up hiding his grin behind a sip of freezing "water" (cough Vodka cough), no longer considering their possible relationship disturbing. The Gryffindor Head of House was going to need serious emotional support once the full brunt of her new duties landed on her shoulders, and he was happy to know that she wouldn't crack under the pressure.

The news spread quickly and was all the Daily Prophet posted articles on for two issues, some sympathetic and others burning with accusations both proven and vaguely-sourced. Millicent laughed loudly over the segment that proclaimed Dumbledore to have insanity in his family's blood because his brother had committed various demented crimes with goats and his younger sister had been mentally unstable.

Harry wondered if the Order of the Phoenix was still in existence, and if so, what they thought of this development and whether or not the organization would prevail without their leader. He would be surprised if it did, but life wasn't exactly predictable.

Classes were loud and distracted affairs, the students shamelessly whispering to each other and passing thousands of notes throughout the day, no one caring if the preoccupied professors saw them doing so since no punishments were given or points removed.

--

It was Thursday evening and Harry felt the pulse of magic that he had noticed steadily proceeding from the direction of the DADA teacher's living areas spiked powerfully, and the power began to come from other directions, feeding the source at the Castle instead of going outwards. It would appear that whoever they had been trying to reach had noticed their call and responded in kind. He wasn't sure whether this was good or bad, but he sure as hell wasn't about to tell somebody besides Asmodeus who had already known it was there and Luna, who had felt a prickle and asked him if he sensed it as well.

He bit into the sandwich a devoted House Elf had practically forced upon him when he'd come into the kitchen half an hour earlier for some soda to mix with Draco's latest alcoholic concoction, smiling at the blonde who was seated across from him with bleary and red eyes. Draco had never been particularly good at holding his liquor, although he was still far better at it than his brother Julius, who had embarrassed himself at several of the wilder parties thrown by older students, usually after successful Quidditch games. Draco smiled back vaguely, taking a short, cautious sip from the bottle clasped in his pale hands to make sure that he wasn't going to throw up again. He had been very displeased when he noticed that Harry had drank twice as much as him and was only swaying back and forth slightly like a snake charmer from his place cross-legged on the bed, large freaky cat beside him and purring loudly when Daphne petted him. Ted lay beside her, practically in her lap and snoring obnoxiously. Tomorrow they had a half-day of classes because of some obscure holiday that nobody even remembered anymore, so none of the students were worried about being hung-over all day.

Harry recalled, as little occurrences often came to mind when he had had this much to drink, how Ron Weasley had looked so very shocked while reading the latest horrific fact about their now disposed of Headmaster. Perhaps his suspicions about his family being in some way connected to the Order of the Phoenix had some grain of truth in them?

Feeling stifled by the close air of the dormitory, he announced that he was getting some air and rose to go on a brief walk around the Castle. Extended trips through the halls for pure amusement were risky with the increased amount of night watchers, so he headed straight outside and called for Hedwig. She slithered out of the Lake and happily followed him on his long trudge through the woods, chattering in her excited hisses about the new friends she had made amongst the Mermen and how very happy she was that he let her swim in the Lake and had kept up the wards that hid her from the school staff despite its drain on his magic stores. He brushed off her thanks and said that he was just happy that she had found an environment that allowed her to truly move about freely. He went back to the Castle when dawn began to creep over the horizon, the alcohol safely out of his system but exhausted. He fell asleep in History of Magic and was nearly left there if Pansy hadn't realized that he wasn't with them half-way to their next class and had sprinted back into the classroom and roused him, practically carrying his slight body to Charms, which was thankfully a lecture session today. He skipped lunch and went straight to bed, awaking three hours later to Asmodeus petting the side of his face and saying that Lucifer needed him to help with something and he would be back in a couple of days at the latest.

Harry whined and tried to stop him from going, not having awakened enough to remember that what he and Asmodeus wanted didn't matter to the Dragon Prince.

He was left alone, then, lips still tingling from Asmodeus' goodbye kiss and feeling very depressed.

--

End chapter 34

Review, please! And today I have a legitimate reason: it's Father's Day and my daddums is throwing a spectacular fit…he almost had a stroke so I am as depressed as Harry.


	35. Chapter 35

A/N: HAPPY BIRTHDAY LPFANROCK! Sorry, probably got the second half of your pen name wrong, but I always mix it up in my head when I try to remember the exact words. Anyways, love you lots and hope you have a nice birthday :D

CHAPTER 35

Asmodeus landed in the Mountains of Mashu, a few scant feet from the roaring Beast as it gnawed through the physical restraints, mouth foaming and red eyes narrowed as its jaws snapped open and closed repeatedly on a stubbornly thick chain made of a blend of Human and Sacred metals meant to confuse it. It was doing what it had been designed for, and Asmodeus took the few seconds he had to look around and see who else was there. Lucifer was atop a mountain peak to his left, arms raised to the sly and head flung back, lips moving so fast that they blurred, obviously chanting spells and summoning the others while he still had time.

Asmodeus set his jaw and did the same, calling not only to the Demons of every rank that could be spared, but also on the lost souls that had joined their cause. After thousands of years around the same people, you start to feel a sort of bond with them, and the first to Fall were no exception to this. They appeared in droves, bringing with them ropes and cords and chains and everything that could be found on hand to hold it down temporarily while Mammon negotiated with the Dark Elves for one of their finest chains, preserved for very extreme cases and the last of its kind. Supposedly it was made when metal still spoke and was obedient to man, and it would tighten whenever what it was restraining struggled or moved. Most times the restrained party ended up strangled or, in more fortunate cases, losing a limb or two from no circulation in an area that had been tightly cut off by the barbed cords. Normally the Dark Elves would hold onto this chain and not be moved, but they were as much at stake as everybody else to lose their entire culture's existence and happiness so they would bend easier to his pleas. And if all else failed, Mammon could merely mention that he was the one who had loaned them use of his precious metals in the first place and that they would have never been able to learn the art of forgery and creation if he (at the time he'd been an Angel) hadn't taught them patiently and watched over them for over a hundred years to make sure that they did not lose or corrupt his gift.

To his surprise, many different kinds of Creatures were arriving, and he even spotted a few bizarre-looking Humans and a nervous man dressed in the blue robes of a high-ranking medi-wizard beside a tall woman that couldn't be anything but an Angel with long red hair the exact shade of freshly spilled blood tied up in an elaborate twist that half had spilled out of, making her look as if someone had shot her in the back of the head and then frozen in place the contents of her insides as they spilled out. She curtly nodded to him and he recognized her as Darlene, whom he had worked briefly with on planning the astrological placement of the stars and planets in the Heavens so very long ago. He smiled at her and then scowled when he noticed Leviathan blast onto the scene, heading straight for the thrashing tail and tying it down hurriedly with a long rope made from that modern plastic-like substance that Humans used. Fibers weren't good enough for them anymore, apparently. Seeing that the blonde wasn't here to make trouble, he went back to work, sending out his call to whoever was receptive to it. There weren't many who had not already come and teamed up with random beings to tackle a limb together and tether it. The plan was to keep doing so until Mammon arrived with the rope, all the while conserving strength because they would need it to unlock the chains in the first place, which hadn't been uncoiled since it was first linked.

He just hoped that they could make it without any serious accidents or loss of existence. He sent out a final call for help and then leaped into the fray, ending up in the same group as Leviathan and a woman with her hair tied up in a long braid that reached her thighs whipping around her like a snake with each jerky movement she made to tie the claw down. Her skirts made swishing noises as she worked and when she felt him staring at her she paused a millisecond to glare, violet eyes flashing with annoyance. There was a powerful man with short-cropped blond hair working beside her, and he looked curiously between them when he noticed her bad mood, eyes revealing themselves to be a disturbing shade of blue that no one could ever be born with: it was the mark of a Wizard who had exceeded the Ministry of Magic's limit on how much power was allowed to be stored in one person. However, they had no way to punish or enforce the law and most had forgotten about it, which is why creeps like Albus Dumbledore could walk around with a mere twinkling spell to disguise it.

Shaking his head in disgust, he tied an elaborate knot that would be impossible for any Human to untie and moved on with the rest of them to another leg that had freshly broken loose. He wasn't tired yet, but he knew he would be at the end of this trial.

--

Harry could feel the negative energy pulsing through him, seeming to come to very strongly from the West, where the dead were said to go in some versions of the afterlife, although he wasn't sure anyone believed that anymore.

He finished his last essay, due next month, and sighed happily. Finally being caught up on all the long-term assignments that piled around after a while was a good feeling, and he decided to celebrate with some treacle tart. He hadn't been able to eat anything that day so far, worried that the knots in his stomach would force it up and out as vomit because of how afraid he was for Asmodeus. Sure, he was a powerful Demon who could no doubt take care of himself, but this power didn't feel like anything he'd ever sensed before and it was very frightening. But now his stomach was upset with him and whined about its emptiness, so treacle tart it would be.

Arriving at the kitchen very quickly through some new passages he'd discovered behind an ancient mirror in the closets of the dormitory, he requested treacle tart and was brought a slice that was longer than his arm. Smiling at the Elves anxiously awaiting his verdict on a new mix of ingredients they had used, he took a bite and almost moaned. It was very good, and he made sure to go into detail about why when they asked, insisting that it was the best treacle tart he'd ever tasted and that he would like a copy of the recipe if they were allowed to give that sort of thing out.

They said they were and seconds later a copy of it was shoved into his hands which he perused while eating the tart until he couldn't fit anymore in his stomach. Asking if he could take the tart with him for later, they wrapped it in wax paper and a cloth napkin and he tucked it into his bag carefully so he wouldn't crumble it and then waved goodbye to all of them. The halls were cold despite the fireplaces lit along the walls between the statues, mirrors, floor-length portraits of the eternally disapproving dead dignitaries that had decided to grace the halls, and of course the gossiping suits of armor. Harry was sometimes miffed that one could rarely truly be alone in the school, and wondered just how many of them had reported their sightings to the ex-Headmaster. He grinned when he remembered that his trial was tomorrow.

If all went well there, justice would finally be served and perhaps some of his suspicions about what really happened in the so-called 'great defeat' of Gellert Grindelwald. Was the infamous Dark Lord really guilty, or had he been an innocent stripped of his freedom by the greedy Albus and flung into prison for no reason other than Albus didn't like him or he knew too much but was too hard to kill? He wasn't sure, but he was determined to find out. Perhaps this summer he could cajole his guardians and parents into letting him track him down and ask some questions. He didn't doubt that he could find the convict if he bothered to look hard enough, and it wouldn't be very hard at all when one had the resources he did.

--

It was very early Sunday morning if one dared to count time in that place and the ghostly lights of the far realms lit the sky once more when Mammon appeared in a blast of shadows that blotted out the feeble beams of light instantly. With him were the Dark Elves and two massive ones bore the much sought-after chain between them. The Beast seemed to realize that this was its last chance to make a run for it and thrashed wildly, snapping multiple bonds on it. no one cared because the chain was unraveling with far less effort than anticipated, which meant that tying the Creature down would merely be a small task considering the power they had conserved and built up for this minute. It arced out of them as one and supported the glittering links of the Beast's bonds and wrapped them many, many, many times around the Creature until it could not move without touching one of the links. They fused around it when it tried to bolt, squeezing around its heaving belly and making it hard to breathe. The Beast was not foolish and knew that its comfort would be drastically reduced should it give up the ability to breathe, even though it didn't technically need to do so to remain alive. A term like immortal wasn't thrown around lightly, after all.

It glowered at the tiny and not so tiny adversaries that had muzzled and restrained him for as long as he could before the blindfold was lowered over his red eyes, making him realize how tired he was. How long had he been struggling? He had a duty to perform, yes, but who said he had to do it now? He could wait another little while, surely. Calmed and happy when food was offered to him, he delicately ate it to prove that they were not in danger from him despite removing the muzzle so he could get nourishment. Someone petted his nose and he growled happily and drifted off to sleep while a massive feminine Creature pet him gently in all the places he never knew he liked to be pet.

As one, everyone sighed in relief and took the time to say hello to old friends they had been too busy to stay in touch with in these final days of turmoil and ceaseless labor. Asmodeus introduced himself politely to the strange couple with the odd eye colors, not too surprised to hear that the man was Grindelwald and the woman his personal assistant Ingrid Black, who had invited him to come assist her just as she had been invited by to quote, "That goddamned bastard of a Necromancer, whose nancy ass I have still not put in jail." The Necromancer turned out to be Mammon, who was overtly friendly with the prickly female and was so bold as to cheekily offer her a pretty silver chain set with garnets. To those present who knew her, they were very shocked when she accepted the gift and didn't seem to mind too much when he dragged her off to explain what in god's name he was doing resurrecting the nobility's children.

Shaking his head, Asmodeus wandered over to the crowd surrounding Lucifer and butted his way through them until he could ask his superior for permission to leave. It was granted with a lazy wave of the hand and he promptly vanished from the area, reappearing in Harry's dormitory. He made sure he was sufficiently disguised as a cat before venturing out to find his boyfriend, who wasn't in bed unsurprisingly.

After all, wasn't today that old bastard's hearing? Gellert had mentioned it, looking very smug, and he was pretty sure it was today. He brushed off his thoughts when he caught Harry's scent coming from a study hall where he tutored the Slytherin first years in proper House decorum.

Entering, he grinned as well as a cat can grin at the sight of Harry tiredly explaining why Slytherins do not run in the halls unless it is an emergency. His only regret was that he couldn't greet him properly with an audience like this. He appeased himself by sneakily kissing Harry's ankle, even though the teen was ticklish there and might accidentally kick him in the face of something out of reflex.

--

End chapter 35

This one is longer than yesterday's…so…um…(coughs) (looks very hard at the review button). I think you get the idea.

Love and peace to all who are still bothering with this fic! Be proud that you have made it this far.


	36. Chapter 36

CHAPTER 36

Dumbledore's trial was scheduled for 1 in the afternoon, but was bumped down several times until it was at 9 a.m., the first one of the day as they suspected it would take a lot of time and really hoped they could cover everything in one day, although that was doubtful considering how much new evidence kept cropping up from mysterious sources who felt safe enough to come into the open now that the Warlock was restrained in a holding cell and could not retaliate. His own brother came out with several massive trunks filled with things suggesting that Gellert had been the victim of a bad influence, not the other way around and that this had started very early in their childhood. Names of conspirators in his various illegal organizations were revealed and they were steadily condemned in smaller courts around the country and outside of it wherever the old man's influence had reached. Students were encouraged to inform authorities of anything odd they had noticed while at school about their Headmaster, and several Hufflepuffs who had been in Harry's DA and grown backbones enough to testify about the Headmaster being a legilimens and unafraid to use it on students without their leave or any real reason. No one said anything about Professor Snape, somehow getting the impression that he wouldn't be convicted and would come to stab them in their beds at night or something equally Slytherin like that.

Showing up at the Ministry without being invited, Harry slid into a seat beside Lucius Malfoy in the observation seats, most of which were crammed with reporters who couldn't fit into the usual section reserved for them. Harry noticed that the room had been temporarily enlarged to fit the crowd of Very Important People who could not be denied entrance because a slighted member of this crowd could easily start a war if they felt their place in high society was threatened.

So Harry was practically sitting on the blonde's lap, although the older man didn't look upset and cheerfully included him in his conversation with his wife, Narcissa, who was seated on his other side knitting something. From the size of her stomach, he deduced that she would be adding a fifth child to the growing Malfoy brood. She smiled sweetly at him and insisted that she was very happy to know that her son Draco had a friend like him to help him research and that she admired the way he had kept the students on track with their studies while that _horrid _woman had been massacring the curriculum. He was a little stunned that she knew so much about him, since Draco wasn't one to blabber about his friends and what they did, but it seemed that word of him had once again been spreading without his notice and his name wasn't entirely unknown.

They quieted down when the members of the Wizengamot entered and attention was called. The trial was intense and the evidence piled up so quickly that even someone who knew practically nothing about the way a court of law works could tell that Albus Brian Dumbledore was not leaving there in anything less than high security and shackles.

Harry popped a lolly into his mouth and settled into the combination of hard bench and Lucius' thigh, smiling at the lady on his other side wearing bright red robes and hair that changed sporadically to any color that caught her fancy. Around her wrist was the band that gave her authority to enter the Auror training grounds, and had a colored slip marking her as a 'senior' in the program. Observing this trial was probably in her finals homework so she could know what a 'big case' was and how they were conducted. She smiled back, eyes switching from blue to gold as they crinkled at the edges. His widened, impressed at her range of colors, and she full-out grinned. Leaning close, she whispered teasingly, "Like what you see?"

"Yeah. Can you do yellow?" He missed Asmodeus and was very miffed that no pets were allowed in the courtroom. He knew the Demon was probably present as air or a puff of smoke, but couldn't locate him even with his Inner Eye. She nodded and the gold changed swiftly into a shade of yellow fairly similar to but not exactly like Asmodeus'. It would have to do, and he whispered an introduction, offering his hand out of sight of the judge to shake. She took it and whispered back, "I'm Tonks; nice to meet you, Harry."

'Nymphadora Tonks?' he scribbled on a scrap of parchment with a Muggle pen, deciding that his conversation wasn't worth getting kicked out of the hall for. She stared at him for a moment, eyes obviously trying to deduce if they had met before but coming up empty. She wrote 'Yes. Who told you?'

'I know Sirius Black, your sort-of uncle'. She gawked at him and then wrote that he had been dead for years and that no one spoke of him or his brother Regulus anymore. He wrote back that he knew them very well and that they had visited his family consistently every summer for years now. She stared off, eyes unseeing as the realization that she'd been either lied to exclusively or no one had known about this sunk into her mind.

They did not speak for the rest of the trial, but when it finally ended at 7 p.m. with the announcement that the verdict would be in the papers tomorrow, she gripped his arm, hard, and dragged him off to a secluded corridor lined with storage rooms and shelves filled with research and inventory, all carefully sealed behind glass and vicious wards that had to be updated every ten years to keep them 'impenetrable'. In truth, they were embarrassingly easy to bypass and Harry resolved to get on the good side of whoever the new Minister would be so he could let them know about the disarray the security was in here.

"So, Sirius and Regulus are both alive and well?"

"Yes."

"Can, um, can I have their contact information? I'm family after all and I've always wanted to meet at least one of the Marauders."

"I'm sorry, but it is up to them, not me, who knows about their whereabouts. However, I would love to have you over for dinner this weekend. They just might be guests as well…" He trailed off and smiled, looking surprisingly like a Sphinx before walking away, in the opposite direction of the one they'd entered. She called after him that he was going the wrong way, but he waved her off and said he had some business to deal with.

--

Arriving at the official records department, he perused the shelves, ignoring the frazzled and flustered assistants attempting to tell him that he was not authorized to be there. A quick flash of his fabricated pass shut them up, but he could hear them gossiping a few rows of shelves distant about what someone his age had done to be given a pass like that one.

He rolled his eyes and looked until he found the folder containing his own information. It showed signs of being perused frequently, and he set his teeth before copying it and then sealing the original folder with some wards of his own along with an alert that would record the names of who had looked at it in the past and in the future on a sheet of loose parchment he would attach to his own copy.

Nodding to the women, copy shrunk and disguised as a pocket book inside his bag, he headed to the apparatation points. There he encountered Mrs. Malfoy, who invited him to have dinner with her and her daughters. He accepted and asked if what he was wearing (black slacks, one of Asmodeus' collared shirts, and a somewhat threadbare sweater) was suitable. She smiled and nodded, seizing his arm and taking him with her to mansion where they were quickly mobbed by two excited-looking little girls. They were chanting something that contained several words that little girls really shouldn't know, and the gist of it was that Dumbledore was a bastard and they were hoping he wouldn't be wandering around any more.

One of them was drinking happily from a clear bottle filled with what seemed to be sticky red liquid, and he deduced that she was the previously dead one. He had a pleasant conversation with Narcissa over dinner about the appropriate color scheme for her latest child's bedroom that would be friendly to both genders since she wasn't sure which one it was yet.

He hoped Asmodeus wouldn't worry too much about him, unaware of the pair of yellow eyes steadily fixed on him in the form of a cat figurine that was oddly reminiscent of the ones Umbridge used to decorate her office with. He was about to dig into desert when he realized that it was the one that had gone missing a few days after she made it against the rules to wear boots with the uniform, and he snickered when he remembered the fit Draco had thrown. It would seem that his friend had gotten revenge against her after all.

--

End chapter 36

Sorry if this chapter seems a little odd. My attention is all over the place today and I don't know what to do. Love you all!


	37. Chapter 37

CHAPTER 37

Excitedly swinging his leg, the other tucked up under him, Harry anxiously waited for the Daily Prophet to inform them of what Dumbledore was getting for punishment. The paper was a few minutes late, which meant that either they had to print extra copies or they'd heard some new juicer piece of news and just had to print it too. Probably a bit of both, knowing the way their reporters operated their business.

Finally, when breakfast was almost over, the owls bearing the news flew in, dropping off the extra-thick packets down at whoever subscribed. The unfortunate student to first receive his copy was practically mauled by the rest of Ravenclaw table, everyone trying to get a peek. Harry looked over Ted's shoulder and saw a large mug shot of the Headmaster on the cover with the words:

ALBUS DUMBLEDORE ESCAPES FROM AZKABAN!!

Underneath was a smaller caption with the start of an article about the Ministry still baffled about how he'd escaped and where he was now. There were suspicions of treason among the ranks of Aurors assigned to watch him. Harry snickered at the picture of an entire of platoon of Aurors, all of whom looked very competent but somewhat confused, uniforms rumpled and stained with everything _but _spell damage. It summed up the anti-Dark forces the Ministry trained these days and all of their faults; most of them wouldn't know a real Dark Wizard if he came blasting into their headquarters and sat on their instructor, reciting the Prince by Machiavelli and cackling manically every couple of sentences.

Harry got bored with the article and went back to his breakfast, his subconscious tackling what the old man's method might have been, where he was, and how he could catch him later when he was bored.

--

Classes that day buzzed with the news, some frightened, some happy, but most kind of disappointed. They were hoping for some kind of closure with the old man, and no one was telling them what the original sentence for Dumbledore was, the one he had escaped from at Azkaban. Harry chewed on his Sugar Quill, courtesy of Fred and George Weasley for no reason other than he caught them out after hours. They had thought he would have the audacity to tell on them without having an excuse for being out past curfew himself. Gryffindors, it would seem, had yet to grasp the concept of blackmail from the perspective of performing it.

Writing down some vague notations in the margins of his textbook, Harry let his mind wander and found himself wondering what the Vampires were up to these days. He had class with them next, after all, and they had been suspiciously silent throughout this entire hubbub with the ex-Headmaster. Mayhap they knew something?

He stood with the rest of class and walked to Defense, absently eating the quill along the way and getting some disturbed looks from the Hufflepuffs when he chomped down on the 'metal tip' of the quill, which was actually made of chocolate. He rolled his eyes at them and hastened his steps to catch up with Blaise, who had had another one of his damned growth spurts and now walked faster than everybody else.

Harry was positive he did it on purpose, being the bastard they all knew and loved.

--

Defense was exciting, as they were given a surprise dueling assignment where they had to defeat or at least maim an illusion created by Achille that would fight back and learn the moves you used.

Harry spent an enjoyable 20 minutes fending it off, and sent Achille a massive grin when he defeated it. He stayed after class to ask about some of the methods he used to create it, promising to come back at the end of the day for tea after Jacinthe invited him to do so. He could sense a strong curiosity about him emanating from the two of them, so he made sure to down several anti-invasive potions before heading back there, Luna in tow. She'd found out where he was going through one of her weird sources and insisted on tagging along, munching on a massive bar of chocolate she'd removed from her purse. Judging from the Muggle label, he guessed she'd either stolen it last night on her way back or Raphael had given it to her.

They sat down on the stiff velvet of the navy sofa formed into ridges and squares of stylish stuffing. Luna's chocolate made a loud cracking noise as she bit into it, staring distantly out the window while Harry picked steadily at the skin of his fingers, blood and bits of flesh wedged under his nails from doing so. Jacinthe eyed his hands warily and then smiled benignly, gesturing for Achille to explain to them about the illusion at class earlier. Harry abandoned his self-mutilation to take out a Muggle notebook of lined paper and a pencil, scribbling down notes and sometimes asking questions about the specific incantations. Jacinthe wondered if these clearly not innocent kids were planning something unsavory and if the source could be traced back to them. She attempted to peer at their auras but was blinded when she opened her Inner Eye. Snapping her normal eyes closed, she pushed a thick curl out of her face tiredly. The search was getting very irritating these days; every time she thought she had the right kid, she would see that it was only residue from someone else. And now when she tried to check two of her largest suspicions, they blinded her so she couldn't check to be sure.

Steeling her resolve, she opened the Inner Eye a mere crack, focusing on the delicate blond girl with the strange dark circles and faint shake in her movements. If she didn't know better, she'd say that the girl had access to Muggle illegal drugs or something. Or she just wasn't getting enough sleep. Her aura shone brilliantly but had large taints in it as if she was sporadically exposed to something with a very strong aura that had reached the level where it both ate and fed her own. The greasy looking spots could only be from Human influence though, and Jacinthe decided to learn a little more about her personal life. She wasn't a virgin.

Moving to Harry, she silently gasped at the sight of a similar series of power exposure spots, only he had a lot more and the spots that were not corrupted were obviously what had blinded her earlier because they shone unnaturally bright. He was obviously the source, but she did not know if it would be best to corner this one. He reminded her a bit too much of the Cursed Ones who had, ironically, blessed her kind with the same power that kept them alive for far longer than previously permissible, with the unfortunate side effect of needing sustenance from the life force of living things, blood.

And everyone knew that it was never smart to anger a Demon. Even if the boy was Human, he was very friendly with at least one, and a high-ranking one as well. She gulped some of her 'water' and pondered how she would word the news to Eirikr in a way that would not make him come charging up here to get a look at Harry himself. Maybe she could introduce them outside of school somehow? She looked at him contemplatively, suppressing her desire to flinch when she saw him staring at her with a faint grin fluttering around his lips. He winked and she got the uncomfortable impression that he could read minds.

--

End chapter 37

I really need to stop listening to Electric Light Orchestra. It is killing my concentration. Oh well. Hope you guys like the chapter anyway…


	38. Chapter 38

CHAPTER 38

It was Wednesday, late afternoon, and Nymphadora was preparing to pack up her homework and head home to her tiny flat a few blocks from the Ministry's London entrance. Her mother hadn't taken well to the move, but she had been adamant about establishing some semblance of adult independence, and she still showed up on weekends to help her sister Isadora clean the house. An owl fluttered in through the open window, practically spitting a letter at her with an unfamiliar seal. Checking it for traps or negative spells as her training had forced into an instinctual move, she shrugged and popped it open with her pen knife. The parchment was inexpensive and durable, the type used by students and the handwriting was, although very neat and entirely blotch-free, childish. It was an invitation to dinner at the Polski residence, and the one inviting her was the youth she'd met at the Dumbledore trial who said he knew about Sirius. Giving a whoop of joy, she stuffed the remainder of her things into her bag and quickly scribbled down a reply with the location of a bus stop where she would wait for either a Portkey to be sent to her or an escort. She tripped over a chair on her way out and righted it, hoping no one would notice the large nick on one of the legs.

Waving goodbye to a secretary she sometimes ate lunch with, she dashed through the Ministry and managed to find a very short line to go up into the Muggle world. She chewed her nails and fidgeted until it was her turn to enter. Replacing her badge in the slot, she did a little dance as the red box rose upward, depositing her on the cracked sidewalk of London. Making for the bus station and snagging her shoe on a large crack in the concrete, she grumbled when she saw that the stones had rubbed off some of the finish. Normally she wouldn't care, but they were new and her mother always gave her such flak for destroying property too fast to replace it.

Digging out some required reading, she lost herself in the complex diagrams of dueling positions and did her best to memorize the lists of spells beside them that were at their optimum efficiency when you bent your body the way the diagram was showing. She gnawed on a fingernail, hunched over the textbook. A soft noise to her left made her whip out her wand and point it at…Harry. He had his hands up like a Muggle criminal, a pink sock dangling from one hand.

"Oh! Sorry, didn't mean to threaten you."

"It's alright. Those are good reflexes to have, if you're going to be a decent Auror, which I know you will be." She flushed a little and then stood, dusting herself off to hide her face and then came to stand next to him. He offered one end of the sock and then, when he was sure she had a good grip on it, said, "Salmon." There was the expected tug at her navel, confused swirl of color, most of which was green, and then she was landing on the grass of a front lawn, out of breath and rumpled from the wind.

"You okay?" He asked, offering a thin-boned hand to help her up. She accepted, tripped over a shoelace, and then righted herself by leaning against a rotting pillar supporting the front porch of a decrepit house. Half the windows were boarded up or broken, and the front door had a multitude of locks. Harry took out a large set of keys and set to work on them, grinning when someone on the other side began to work with him to get it open sooner. It swung open at last, revealing a tall man with thick brown hair and the beginnings of a beard. He was wearing a pink apron and a very exasperated look on his face. In the background Tonks could hear something smashing and raucous laughter.

They entered and saw another man with thick black hair attempting to stagger to the dining room table while holding what was apparently very heavy and very hot at the same time. With a sigh, Harry levitated it and kissed Sirius on the cheek in greeting before he could be bear-hugged since he'd slept on his ribs weird last night and they ached today. Tonks tried to catch another glimpse of the dark-haired man but he disappeared through a door that she guessed led to the kitchen.

"Harry!" This exclamation was shortly followed by a blur of color and then Vlad attached himself to Harry's neck and squeezed him. Tonks stared at him, trying to decide whether it was safe to get close to this barely-contained ball of energy. Too late, he noticed her and, wrapping an arm around Harry's shoulders, offered a hand with along with a sunny grin.

"Hello there! I'm Vladimir, Harry's guardian's brother. Nice to meet you….?"

"Uh, I'm Tonks. Hi!" She shook his hand and followed them into the dining room to eat. Arranged around the table was the bearded man who'd opened the door for them, someone she hadn't seen before but who had the characteristic chin that all of the Black blood possessed, Sirius with a bandage around what was presumably a burn on his hand, and a much-younger man with delicate cheek bones and longer hair. He smiled, adjusted his glasses, and introduced himself as a family member, Maalik. Regulus and Sirius both seemed to be a little shy around her, and she didn't blame them. Meeting family again after the bad last impression they'd had of their parents had to be at least slightly uncomfortable.

Thankfully there was no awkward silence, the noise level quite high when Vladimir engaged Maalik in a fierce and possibly ongoing debate about Muggle vaccines and whether they were worth it if there was so much evidence about them actually causing disease. Maalik was not in favor, and Vladimir believed that every precaution was worth the risk. Bronislav allowed them to get served a suitable amount of food before asking Tonks how she liked Auror training so far, and she completely forgot that she was there to see her long-lost family, getting very into his stories about what the Auror program used to be like. She now understood why the older ex-aurors who were still alive were so on edge all of the time, Mad-Eye Moody in particular.

The sun was setting when they all migrated to the porch after a mass clean-up that she somehow got recruited into, wedged between Maalik and Regulus, who said that she probably inherited her Metamorphous ability from her great-grandmother on her mother's side of the family. She'd always wondered…

Harry drank a lot of tea, his pet cat curled up against him and watching the sunset as well. She had enjoyed herself thoroughly and wondered if her mother would mind if she brought Bronislav and whoever else wanted to come to her family's Spring gathering in a couple weeks.

Finally, when she realized that she had to get up early tomorrow, she took her leave. Harry gave her the Portkey, saying that to turn it into a regular sock again you had to say 'Perry'.

She fell asleep that night happy and just a little bit confused about how Regulus and Sirius remained under the radar for so long.

--

End chapter 38

Well, this is a little different because I tried to do it from Tonks point of view. Very difficult, though, because I'm out of practice and don't really know much about her other than she can change her appearance, who her parents are, and that she's clumsy.


	39. Chapter 39

CHAPTER 39

Jacinthe watched from the window in her rooms as Harry Potter and Luna Lovegood wandered aimlessly around the grounds, without a set destination in mind it would seem. Normally this wouldn't be worth watching, but it was currently 3 in the morning and she was beginning to see a pattern to their movements. The fact that they were sprinkling salt behind themselves was also worth the curiosity. Achille would normally be the one doing this, but Eirikr had requested to see him for some information on a skirmish that they'd done a while ago and where something had gone missing.

She chewed on her nails speculatively, wondering what they were up to for the hundredth time since they had first started at midnight. She perused the salt lines again and choked when she finally saw the huge pattern. It was a circle of power in the shape of a protecting one and the runes they were working on around the edges and in the center confirmed her impression. It would prevent unwanted eyes watching anyone inside those walls, and when they left the safety would go with them. This particular way of protecting oneself had been made illegal in the 18th century because it was non-consensual for the other parties who happened to be included in the process because they were present at the location. Although, she had never understood why people _wouldn't _want protection from unwanted spies; if you wanted a spy there, all you had to do was wish it, even though doing so would only allow the spy to observe you.

Maybe it was illegal because it never went away and the Ministry wanted to watch certain locations?

They had finished applying the salt and she watched as they placed preservation spells in case someone tried to disturb them before they could be activated by the sun rising. The lines would disappear in the first rays of light, being absorbed into the ground and they would stay there for a very, very long time.

Jacinthe took a sip of blood and admired their handiwork, wishing she had been that creative as a child. How the hell those two had come across a ceremony like that she didn't know, but it was her business now so she would need to keep an even sharper on those two, in person now because of the runes and- dammit! This was going to be inconvenient.

She sulkily drank some more blood, scowling down at the oh-so-innocent runes.

--

Harry fell asleep the moment he went to bed, curled on his side with Asmodeus hogging the rest of the bed, not knowing that Harry would be back before classes started. Waking up much later, right when breakfast was ending, he tried to squirm out of bed but found himself quite trapped by a grinning Demon.

"Asmodeus, now is not the time to-"

"Honey, I have barely got to kiss you lately with all these perverts watching and you being so busy. Don't you think I could steal a few seconds of your time, oh mighty busy person?"

Harry stared, trying to hold in his laughter. Sometime in the middle of his miniature speech Asmodeus has assumed a very freezing kitten look on his face and his lower lip was wobbling. Add to that the awkwardness of his words and Harry's mask cracked. He laughed, hard, gasping and wheezing for breath through his guffaws and finally ended up shoving his face against his boyfriend's collarbone, taking a moment to inhale his aroma before breaking down again.

"Um…Harry?" Harry giggled a little, blushed because he sounded like a girl, and then acknowledged his boyfriend with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes?"

"Are you feeling alright?"

"Pretty good…my head feels a little fuzzy right now though. Why?"

"Your eyes look a little off. I don't know why, but they do." He brushed his thumb under Harry's right eye, looking worried.

"Really? I better go look at them then." Harry made to get up but noticed that Asmodeus hadn't moved. He waited for a second, meeting his boyfriend's gaze head-on and wondering what was up. Asmodeus leaned down until their noses touched, smiling a little. Harry's impatience to get up floated away and he smiled back, realizing how much he'd missed this. They didn't say anything, but merely stared at each other, grinning like fools and both thinking that they'd rather not exist than exist alone.

Asmodeus closed his eyes, breaking the stare and bumped their noses together a little while craning his head to the side to connect their mouths like their eyes had been a second ago. Harry responded to the slow caresses at a similar pace, relaxing back into the sheets and grasping his shoulders, careful not to dig his nails into the bare skin while casually slinging a leg over his boyfriend's calf and rubbing their feet together. It tickled a little, but pleasantly so and he smiled into the increasingly intimate kiss, moving his arms upwards to wrap around his neck, pulling him down so Asmodeus had to shift himself to the side slightly to prevent crushing Harry underneath his weight.

They broke apart for air and Harry pressed his mouth to the spot under the Demon's chin where he knew there was a patch of veins that Humans didn't have that Demon did. He bit down, feeling a hole inside of his fill as he lapped up the few drops of blood that rose to the surface. In a distant corner of his mind, the only part that was still thinking since Asmodeus had decided to run the tips of his fingers over his naked thighs from where his oversized sleep shirt had hiked up in the night, he wondered why blood had become something pleasant to taste and if he should be worried about this. The rest of Harry brushed that part aside and bit down harder, making Asmodeus hiss and claw a little at Harry's thighs to give him a taste of his own medicine.

Harry kicked him in the shin out of reflex, unwittingly amusing him. Not that he cared, too intent of keeping his blood high strong. He made a slurping sound while biting into his neck and that was enough to wake him out of the mists of delicious fluids long enough to realize what he was doing. He squeaked and detached himself from his neck, head hitting the pillow as he stared up at his too-happy boyfriend.

"What just happened?"

"I think we bonded." Asmodeus replied, face perfectly serious minus his eyes, which were twinkling wildly enough to give Albus a run for his money. Harry rolled his eyes and tried to wriggle out from under him, brushing against something that he didn't think was supposed to be there.

"Are-are you aroused?!" He demanded, feeling a little miffed with himself for not realizing that blood-sucking was probably some kind of mating ritual for Demons, and he'd just done it without thinking.

"What do you think?" Asmodeus asked, grinning very wide and placing most of his weight on Harry's smaller body. Harry scowled to hide his nervousness, trying not to fall too deeply into the tempting warmth that his body was trying to exude to match his partner's. He closed his eyes when he felt his own body responding and made to shift some of the heavy demon's weight off of him but did not succeed fast enough.

Asmodeus' mouth was suddenly by his ear, soothing him and saying that something like this was natural and that it would feel good, not bad. Even though he inherently knew that, it made him feel a lot better and more open to the idea of doing something with it in his right made. These days most of their crazier moments were when he'd been drinking, so it would be different to do it completely sober like he was now.

"Um, so…do you want to do something?" He shakily whispered, face hidden against Asmodeus' warm shoulder. He didn't want to be so nervous and naïve, but he couldn't help it. It had been a while and he'd missed this sort of thing but overall they hadn't gone very far.

He was spared from any further potentially pleasant experiences by the door to the dormitory slamming open. Asmodeus transformed into a cat and sat on Harry's stomach, swinging his tail protectively and snarling at Blaise when he came up to the bed.

"Harry! There you are!"

"What happened?" Harry asked, raising himself onto his elbows and looking at him with wide innocent eyes. He was unwittingly revealing a large hickey on his shoulder (when had Asmodeus had time to do that?!) when his shirt slipped off his shoulder, but he didn't have time to cover it.

"Oh." Blaise said, drawing it out and grinning salaciously at Harry. Harry turned bright red and demanded to know what was so interesting.

"I had my suspicions about you having a partner, but this takes the cake. Here I thought you were sick and was coming to make sure you weren't dead or lying in a puddle of blood somewhere, and you were up here snogging or possibly shagging!"

"I was not!" Harry shrieked, pulling up his shirt to hide the large and very red, almost purple, evidence.

"Hey, hey, calm down." He held his hands up, still grinning like a fiend. "I'm not going to tell on you or make any trouble. But I do have a request: one of these days tell me who it is, okay?"

"Okay." Harry smoothed a hand through his tousled hair, cheeks pink.

"Good! I'll go to second period and say you aren't feeling well. You gonna show up this afternoon or no?"

"I'll be at afternoon classes for sure. I just need to get cleaned up and-"

"Finish your business?" Blaise cheekily inserted. Harry threw a pillow at him but it hit the door which the African-American boy had slammed behind him. He could hear his footsteps clattering down the stairs and then he flopped back onto the bed, taking the pressure off of his elbows. He stared at the ceiling but his vision was suddenly impeded by a smiling Asmodeus, who had braced an arm on either side of his head and was eyeing the skin of Harry's collarbone like it was candy. Or blood. Take your pick.

Harry narrowed his eyes. "If we're going to mess around some more, we need to hurry up because I need to shower before classes and possibly eat something."

Asmodeus lowered himself until his lips touched Harry's as he spoke, "Oh, no worries, love." He swallowed and restrained a flinch when the Demon lowered himself further; carefully nuzzling the side of Harry's neck, tongue delicately tasting the skin there. He wanted to bite, but he knew that that might not go over so well when the high wore off and Harry noticed the very large mark that something like that would make on his skin.

"Don't even think about it." Harry hissed, feeling Asmodeus bare his teeth and run them along his jugular. The Demon didn't realize that he had been about to do just what he had decided not to. He colored and kissed it instead, focusing on keeping his canines to himself. He needed blood, though, and he would need to get some soon.

Harry sighed, moving his head to the side to make more room. His neck looked unnaturally long from this angle, Asmodeus observed in a moment of clarity, and it was almost too inviting. He kissed as much as he trusted himself to and then moved back to Harry mouth. At least he knew he could restrain himself there. Against his will he remembered how willing Levi had always been about blood sharing, and a little place in his heart that would always hold a special spot for the blonde ached. He missed him sometimes, late at night, but he wasn't sure he had ever loved him. At least with Harry he felt not even a shadow of doubt, knowing with all that he was that he loved the youth and that at the end of the boy's days on this awful planet he would take him with him to Hell and keep him by his side for the rest of the time before Armageddon descended with all the fury of a chained beast let loose.

Shifting on the sheets until he much lower than Harry's face, he tickled Harry's right thigh, smiling when Harry blushed slightly and tried to smack his hands away.

"Now, now, no need to be shy…" He teased, moving his hand, palm flat against the soft skin, up until it brushed against the cloth bunched up at the apex of his legs, barely covering him. Harry grabbed a pillow and hid his face in it when Asmodeus scrutinized the area, gently running a hand down the source of the delay. It felt good, and Harry clenched a muscle in his thigh without realizing it. He set the pillow aside and propped himself up again, curiously wondering what his boyfriend would decide to do and-

Apparently it involved his mouth. Harry brain didn't even bother to wave goodbye before skipping off into the sunset, leaving him to writhe helplessly in the throes of the new but very nice sensations. All too soon he felt muscles in his stomach clenching up. He tried to fight it off, desperate to make this last as long as possible, but with a half-scream he finished and flopped against the pillow, trying to catch his breath. He knew that he was young and he should have expected losing control this easily, but it didn't stop him from feeling a little miffed.

Asmodeus sat up, staring at him strangely with a foreign redness in his cheeks. With a start Harry realized that he had a similar problem. But before he could suggest helping him with it, his boyfriend scooped him up and carried him into the bathroom, tugging off his clothes and Harry's, turning the appropriate tap so the water would be the right temperature. He was facing the tiled wall, enjoying the water and forgetting about Asmodeus' predicament for a moment until his boyfriend hugged him from the back.

Had their bodies always fit together so well? He flushed from a combination of the hot water and the Demon's presence coupled with the large hands caressing his skin and moving with extra care of the scars, both new and old, from various accidents and the one notable event through which they had first met.

And then the rubbing started up again and Harry leaned his head back to rest against his boyfriend's shoulder, moving his hips in an effort to help him in some way. He received a growl, and the hands that had been running down his arms gripped his hips hard enough to sting the flesh. Asmodeus grunted a little and kissed him, which hurt both of their necks because of the position but they didn't really notice it. The water seemed to get hotter and Harry panted a little, opening his mouth and pushing his tongue against Asmodeus' insistently. He wanted more but at the same time knew he wasn't emotionally prepared to go all the way, so he switched the rhythm of his hips up a notch and moaned when he ran a hand down his chest, all teasing aside. Sometime during the kisses, he had been spun around and now found it to his best advantage to wrap his legs around his waist for some sort of leverage, ankles uncomfortably rubbing against each other as their movements became feverish and a haze settled over his mind, clouding his judgment until there was a particularly powerful buck from the Demon's hips and something that felt hot and sticky spread across his lower back. Eyes wide, he met Asmodeus' gaze and blinked when he saw the expression of restrained euphoria in them.

He was kissed before he could make any comments.

--

At lunch Pansy turned to Draco and asked, "Has anyone seen Harry today?"

"Not that I know of…"

"Huh. Weird, 'cause he usually doesn't miss classes like this, even if he's not feeling well." Draco shrugged and took a bite of his sandwich.

Blaise grinned into his Butterbeer.

--

End chapter 39

Haha! This is a (cough) very vague…um…you know what, I'm not going to talk about it. Just let me know what I need to improve.


	40. Chapter 40

A/N: 40 chapters? My story has entered middle age now, my doves!

CHAPTER 40

Bronislav was scrubbing an evil and very stubborn 'tomato' stain off of the kitchen counter from Vladimir this morning, Mozart playing the background to soothe his nerves, and the gentle patter of spring rain keeping him company since everybody else had gone into town for some yearly festival to celebrate the changing seasons.

The house was clean, and the leaks in the ceiling had been repaired earlier when it has started to rain, so once he was done with the kitchen he had no more responsibilities.

He paused in his scrubbing to reach over to the ashtray and took a drag of the smoking cigarette, leaving it there as he disposed of his cleaning cloth, a large and sticky red-brown stain smeared across it. Vlad said he had a special power that let him know when something could be used more than once….but his brother had been drunk and blood-thirsty at the same time so he was bound to say some crazy stuff while in that state. Shaking his head, he carried the ash tray and a copy of the Daily Prophet he'd filched from an owl carrying a whole load and taking a breather in his yard. Spread across the front page was an article about how hit-men who were pursuing Dumbledore's tracks had found some evidence that he was in Brazil, and that one of them had actually seen him. There was a drawing of what the hit-man had said he looked like now, and it sported a much shorter and scragglier beard paired with a thick cap jammed over his head. Broni unwillingly sniggered, choking on his cigarette.

Stubbing it out distractedly, he read the rest of the article and saved the paper for anyone else who might want it, re-folding it the way it was before so he wouldn't create new creases in the parchment. He wasn't sure what he wanted to do with himself now, as he wasn't in the mood to read his current book, and wasn't tired enough for a nap or energetic enough to take a walk in the rain.

He got up to make himself something to eat, but was practically mauled by an owl that came flying in down the chimney with no warning.

Bronislav ended up on his back in the middle of the floor, a large wet bird sitting on his chest and extending a claw, waving it back and forth impatiently when he did not immediately remove the classy-looking missive within its claws. He sat up, taking the letter and moving his hand to pet the wet feathers of its crest, getting a bite to the fingers for his trouble.

"Fine, fine. No touching you, I get it…" He muttered, feeling with the tips of his fingers only a charm to ensure that the letter arrived in one piece. Shrugging, he opened it and read the contents rapidly, skimming to the bottom where he saw a sloppy signature reading 'Nymphadora Tonks'. It was an invitation to a spring party her family threw annually, and it also invited who else in his household wanted to come, and that there was no need to RSVP because there was always too much food and no seating arrangements.

He wrote back anyway, stating that he was coming for sure and that he was very honored to have been included in such an event. Handing it to the owl, he grinned at its disgruntled look and appeased it slightly by removing a piece of salami from the fridge and tossing it to it. There was a flash of brown as it shot its neck out in a rapid movement not unlike a frog catching an insect, and munched contentedly on the meat. Its yellow eyes were a little friendlier after that and it flew without further ado up the chimney and off of the property.

Broni watched it go with a slight frown. He hoped that the Tonks girl wasn't going to do something naïve like develop-

No. He wouldn't think about that. He tended to 'jinx' things like his brother had pointed out countless times over the unnaturally long years of both of their lives. Sometimes he got so tired of it all, but at the same time wasn't quite sure he was ready for the after-life, regardless of which direction it went.

--

Harry bit his nails, reading the invitation from Tonks contemplatively. He knew his guardians well enough to be sure that Bronislav had already told her that he would be there, and it wasn't like he had anything going on next week so he might as well show up.

Luna passed the bottle of Gin to him wordlessly, eyes fixated on her homework and quill busily scribbling away. She had gotten behind so Harry was helping her get as much of it done as possible, concentrating on the assignments that were due the next two weeks because he knew that she would be extra busy during that time with her 'clients'.

Every couple of minutes, right before turning the page, she would knit a few stitches in the sweater she was holding. It was quite fashionable at the moment and looked really professional. Harry was proud of her and resolved to buy her some candy for the hell of it next time he snuck out to get some cigarettes, and maybe say hi to Raphael. He needed to interrogate the Angel about what his intentions for his friend were, but kept pushing it to the side as other things came up.

He drank some Gin and passed it to her, grinning when she snatched it happily and took a very long drink. She made a 'brr' sound and shook her shoulders a little. Her braids tinkled as the metal ornaments (he spied a few paperclips and converted thumb tacks in the mess with a shake of his head) knocked against each other.

She signed her name at the bottom of her last assignment, completing it and packing up the books. Resituating herself closer to him, she split the writing of the last one with him, sometimes asking a question about what the research was. By the time 2 o'clock a.m. rolled around, she had finished the sweater and they had emptied the bottle of Gin. She showed no signs of risking the halls in her inebriated state, curling up under his bed still fully dressed minus her converse. Asmodeus made a whining noise but stopped when Harry pulled the curtains tighter closed around the bed and made a motion for him to transform even though Luna was passed out and in there with them. He did as Harry wished and was about to ask him what he was doing but was kissed before he could ask. Harry pulled away a second after connecting their mouths and passed out next to Luna. Asmodeus scowled, feeling miffed, and settled down reluctantly beside the students.

He looked up and jumped when he saw Leviathan in owl form smirking down at him. The other Demon transformed, suspending himself from the bed frame at first and then silently lowering himself onto the bed itself. He crawled over to Asmodeus and smiled before invading his personal space and going to sleep, head nuzzled nicely in the place where his neck joined his shoulder.

Asmodeus sighed and resigned himself to a long night.

--

End chapter 40

Levi makes a come-back!


	41. Chapter 41

A/N: sorry about no chapter yesterday; was tired and bitchy. Oh, and I miss you like crazy, 'what the gaaah'. Come back to me soon :P

CHAPTER 41

Asmodeus woke early that morning to someone prodding him roughly in the ribs. It was Michael and in his hand was a letter that he probably wanted to crush into tiny scraps of parchment if he could. Clearing his throat and trying not to flush at the look that Michael was giving him after noticing the three other people in bed with him, he stretched out his hand for the letter. Michael threw it at his head and disappeared in a cloud of flowery-smelling smoke. Asmodeus paused in opening the letter to inhale paradise's scent happily, knowing that he would never set foot in the glorious place again because of what he'd done and would take any taste of it he could get.

He finished opening it and barely suppressed a groan when he saw the name at the bottom. It was from Raphael, of all people, and he wanted him to come see him as soon as he read it because he had noticed something 'off' about the Vampires lately and wanted some information. Much of the magical world' stability rested unknowingly on the shoulders of the undead, and if something was wrong with them, the problem would spread everywhere on Earth which would interfere with the Demon's agenda. How were they supposed to taint souls if the souls either became untaintable (people tended to get religious very quick in emergencies) or began tainting themselves with strange experiences. Witnessing too much misery had a different effect on everybody, and the results usually weren't good. The jaded are very stubborn and probably the hardest to mold into what they wanted. Them and perverts, really, were the ones who gave them the most trouble. He reached over the mess of covers, pulling back a fold that covered Harry's face partially, admiring the way the boy's skin looked like porcelain in the thin sliver of gray morning that peeked through the gap in the curtains before stroking his cheek until he woke a little.

"Hn?" Harry turned his head to look at him, unwrapping the arm that he had tucked around Luna's waist to keep her from falling off during the night to push his hair out of his eyes sleepily. Asmodeus felt very sorry for disrupting the sleep he knew he needed very much, so he kept his message short.

"Hey, I'm going to go meet up with Raphael for some important stuff. I'll meet you at the party if I can, okay?"

"Nooo…" Harry whined, tugging on the sleeve of the loose shirt Asmodeus slept in. his eyes were half-lidded with exhaustion but his grip was surprisingly strong. The Demon sighed and gently removed Harry's fingers, kissing his languorously before crawling over a barely-awake Leviathan while being careful not to touch the blonde. The last thing he needed right now in his sexually frustrated state was his ex-boyfriend seducing him. As much as he adored Harry he wasn't sure he would be able to resist the blonde's wiles if the other Demon really put his mind to getting him back.

He stubbed his toe while dressing and arrived at Raphael's apartment still wincing and dressed with extra carelessness. Half his shirt buttons were in the wrong loops, and of course the Angel pointed this out and then lectured him about how young Harry was, never mind the statistics of how many teenagers had done far more at a younger age than the brunette.

Getting down to business, the Angel dumped several large folders worth if evidence that something was up with the Vampires. From what he had gathered, the power that the Demons had given them was dissolving slowly with time and had reached a weaker level at last. They brainstormed and decided that the best way to fix it would be to re-gift them, and mix in some Angelic force as well to help make it stronger. Inherently, Angel force created and Demonic force destroyed so the touch of Angel would most likely reverse that aspect of them and make it last longer.

It was 4 in the afternoon by the time they finished drawing up plans and writing petition letters asking for advice or assistance to those who would most likely offer a helping hand or owed them favors.

Most of them needed to repay favors.

--

Straightening his shirt and inspecting himself for any signs of the scars he'd carefully hid under a combination of glamours and Muggle make-up loaned to him by Luna. Her father knew Mr. Tonks from Hogwarts school so very many years ago so she had been invited as well and was placing the finishing touches on her handmade dress since she didn't have money to buy herself a decent one, not even second-hand one, at the moment.

"What do you think?" She asked, holding it up for his eyes to see and check for any flaws. He stroked one of the sleeves idly, admiring the way the gingham had been embroidered by a very bored Pansy last night. Draco was going to the party because he was related to the Tonks via his mother and Pansy was his date, so she was tagging along as well. At first she'd offered to loan Luna a dress of hers but noticed that Luna was about 3 dress sizes smaller than her, so that plan had been discarded in favor of the last resort of constructing a dress herself.

"I like it!" He grinned at her and lit a cigarette. Asmodeus had left at four that morning, looking flustered and clutching a smoking envelope that the Angel Michael had thrown at him with a huff earlier, waking him up. Much to his surprise, Leviathan had joined them sometime last night and nearly gave Luna a heart attack when she woke up and saw that she wasn't alone with Harry like she'd been last night. The blonde Demon had apologized for startling her and insisted that he knew Harry and did this sometimes when he needed a place to sleep.

'Like the demon couldn't have found refuge in a thousand different beds…' Harry had sulked, wondering why he didn't notice how Leviathan had been lying so close to his boyfriend. He knew there was nothing between them, but it was still unnerving to know that, as much as he liked him as a Being, Leviathan was still intent on inserting himself into Asmodeus' circle again.

And speaking of Leviathan, the Demon entered Luna's bedroom with an easy sway in his hips, Mr. Lovegood following dressed in a nice shirt and slacks that were a little threadbare around the hems. "Your father is ready, Luna. How much more time do you need to get ready?"

"Just a second to put this on, thanks." She disappeared into the bathroom, emerging less than five minutes later wearing the dress and slipped her feet into a pair of heels that she usually wore at night. The comfortable suede pumps 'clashed' with the dress, but she didn't seem to either notice or care, tucking her arm into Harry's and the other into her fathers while saying goodbye to Leviathan just before activating the Portkey. They disappeared with a 'pop', and the Demon stared at the spot where the one who had replaced him in Asmodeus' heart had last stood. He could easily understand the appeal of dating someone of a different species, but why Human? Humans were so very weak and easily preyed upon. And yet….and yet, he couldn't really find fault with Harry in that department. If the faint glow his skin had now was any indication, he had quite a powerhouse of Magic, and he wasn't sure how much of it the boy knew how to use. All he knew was that he wasn't going to pick any fights with the feisty Human without Lucifer to hide behind or something.

'Or something' was far more likely than convincing the Dragon Prince to not step aside and let Asmodeus have at him for annoying his boy toy.

--

Landing on the grass about 50 feet from the house and decorations spread across the lawn for the spring gathering, Harry made sure both the Lovegoods were in one piece before accepting the Portkey Luna handed to him, stuffing it into his pocket.

They trudged over to the official party grounds, hearing 'pops' behind them as more people arrived via either portkey or apparatating. A hand came out from behind them, landing heavily on Harry's shoulder. He whipped his head around and glared at Draco for startling him like that. Draco cheekily kissed his nose, Pansy giggling into her hand girlishly and engaged Luna in a conversation about whether or not leeches actually had medical advantages. The girls wandered off with Mr. Lovegood in tow so Luna could make sure that he didn't take a bath in the punch or eat the flowers, and the older man followed happily, occasionally joining in the girl's conversation, only his remarks seemed to be related to the theme of steam-powered engines from the 1800s and what kind of relevance that kind of power had for engineers today once the gasoline stores emptied. The girls eventually got so interested in what he was saying that they stopped talking about leeches and questioned him about the steam-power that he was lecturing on, a slightly glazed look in his eyes. Eventually a small crowd of the more intellectually-minded people present at the party settled around him and listened attentively to what he was saying, trying to ignore the unnerving way he never looked directly at any of them and the misty quality of his voice.

Left to themselves, Harry and Draco wandered around drinking punch and looking for Harry's guardians while Draco avoided his mother. As much as he loved her, she tended to become rather embarrassing in public and treat him like he was five or something, not ten years older than that.

Catching sight of Nymphadora and a shorter female who had similar features but very dark hair like her aunt Bellatrix, they meandered over to greet them like the good little guests they were.

"Hey, 'Dora!" Harry greeted, having gathered that she didn't like her first time and wondering if this nickname would get him a slap to the face like he was expecting. Instead, the darker girl turned and answered, "Yes?"

"Um…Hi! I'm Harry and this is my friend Draco. Nymphadora invited us and I was trying to get her attention. What's your name?"

"I'm Isadora Tonks. 'Dora for short, though. Nymphadora is my older sister-"

"Don't call me Nymphadora!" Her sister suddenly tuned into their conversation, hissing that to her sister with a venomous look on her face. Isadora did not look affected in the least, merely mentioning that the dark red her sister's hair had darkened to suited her robes very nicely.

Tonks turned her attention to the teenagers, both of whom waved despite being mere 3 feet away, stupid grins on their faces. Her eyebrow twitched but they were spared from god knows what by Bronislav appearing out of nowhere and thanking her for inviting them. His stately speech was slightly ruined by an obviously drunk Sirius wearing a weak glamour slinging an arm around his shoulders and slurring that he loved him, but not as much as he loved Regulus. Said Regulus paused in his motion of raising an empty champagne bottle to beat him on the head with it.

"I love you too, Siri!" he cooed, sounding disturbingly feminine and removing his boyfriend through incest from the Immortal and wandering off to a secluded section of the garden. They disappeared behind a shrub and Harry took a very long drink from his self-spiked punch to try and erase the ensuing mental images from his mind.

"In case you were wondering, Tonks, that is why they disappeared off the face of the earth and everybody said they were dead." He finished his punch, tossed the cup into a receptacle for trash that was nearby and removed his flask of vodka under a freezing charm from his pocket, drinking a good amount and offering it wordlessly to anybody else who wanted some. It was magically refilled from a large bottle carefully stuffed at the bottom of his trunk so he wasn't worried about running out. Isadora accepted it without hesitation while Tonks gawked as her little sister drank quite a bit and only looked a little flushed despite the amount of alcohol now in her system.

"Want to dance?" She randomly asked Vladimir, who had approached them.

"Um, sure; why not." He accepted, even though he didn't know her. She was half-Black because of her mother, so he wasn't going to dare to deprive her of what she requested because he was emotionally attached to all of his limbs, one in particular, and really didn't want them being torn off by a rejected female.

Harry was about to say something but was cut off by Raito rubbing his head against his calf. The cat had appeared out of thin air, and looked attention craved. Harry mused that it was too bad the Black brothers had claimed the bush, cradling the kitty in his arms and wondering where Luna had gone off too.

By the end of the party, Isadora had thrown up on Vladimir's shoes and Draco had walked in on Tonks snogging Bronislav in a sealed-off area of the house. He'd looked a little shaken when he told Harry, so Harry assumed that they had been doing slightly more than just snogging. Overall, it had been such a lovely day that he couldn't bother to be upset to find Leviathan sleeping in his bed when he returned to the dormitory after tracking down his Head of House to let him know that he had returned safely from his 'field trip'.

--

End chapter 41

The reviews have flagged lately, which means that the story is either getting boring or it just plain sucks. Please tell me which one so I can fix it! its hard to give myself constructive criticism if I don't know what my audience wants (besides lemons).

Thank you!


	42. Chapter 42

A/N: I tend to be forgetful of these, since I consider it blatantly obvious, but I don't own Harry Potter. He's J.K. Rowling's bitch, not mine.

CHAPTER 42

Sighing happily as he saw the sun's rays filter in through the windows of the library, Harry pushed away the thoughts that told him that the warmer weather meant that the school year was coming to an end yet again. School would end officially in a few days and the excitement for yet another summer had been building amongst the students. Harry was less enthusiastic since the grueling OWLS tests had leeched most of his energy away. He was attempting to juggle studying; several private projects that he hoped would make him some money in case of emergencies, and worrying about Luna. The blonde had gotten a rougher sort of customer and she now sported bruises and other minor injuries in various places. The part about the ordeal that upset him the most was that He would never had known if he hadn't showed up at a meeting place early in the morning and caught her covering a bruise on her temple with Muggle make-up, probably using the nasty powder because she knew he could see through glamours.

It had taken several hours of petting her hair and holding her while she sobbed her heart out to get the whole story. She had been walking the streets in a different city, the name of which she refused to tell him, minding her own business and selling scarves and socks to whoever wanted them and could pay. Looking for a place to spend the night since it was Saturday and her father was taken care of, it had started to rain and storm terribly. She'd hidden in what she had thought to be an abandoned shanty attached to an old wool factory, but was later joined by several street children and an elderly beggar. They fell asleep, and she had been close to it herself when a middle-aged man had come in out of nowhere, grabbed a handful of her hair, and dragged off. She didn't have to tell him anymore about what had happened after- he knew.

She cried for another hour after telling him, shoulders shaking horribly and her face practically swelling from the salt in her tears. He took her to the Hospital Wing for calming Potions and fended off Madam Pomfrey by pretending that he had bruised his foot on the stairs a week ago and that it hurt a lot still. He actually had bruised his foot but he didn't really feel the pain.

In fact, he hadn't felt very much of anything in the way of pain since the whole 'drinking Asmodeus' blood' incident. He wondered if he should be worried.

--

Eating a slice of treacle tart, Harry settled himself in a much enlarged compartment between a snoozing Luna and chattering Pansy. He wasn't sure what Draco's girlfriend was talking about, but he caught the words 'sparkly' and 'frilly', so he guessed it was clothes. He admired the way she violated the Slytherin clothing stereotype with her bright and soft-looking clothes, most of which had been gleaned from Muggle sales and second-hand shops.

Luna stirred in her sleep, cradling her arm that he knew had been fractured by the bastard forcing himself on her recently closer to her developing chest. He wrapped an arm around her to prevent her from falling off the bench when the train lurched around corners or unexpectedly sped up as it was prone to do these days. He suspected that the engine needed to be checked.

Pansy stopped talking when Draco shouldered his growing body through the doorway and greeted her, wedging onto the bench between her and the wall and handing out Chocolate Frogs that his mother had sent him at breakfast to 'hold him over' on the train. Why she thought that he and Julius would be able to eat 50 each was still unknown, not that either of their friends complained about the free treats.

Finishing his treacle tart, he pulled out a book, jostling Luna a tiny bit with his arm by accident. She blearily opened her eyes, looked around, and drifted back off with a sigh, nuzzling her face into Harry's shoulder. He flushed when he remembered Asmodeus doing the same this morning, only they hadn't exactly been dressed.

He wondered what sort of things would happen next year, and if the Vampires would be there again as DADA professors.

--

End chapter 42

I know its short, but the next one will be the start of summer holidays so it will be longer. Let me know if I'm forgetting anything or haven't mentioned something important in forever or something.


	43. Chapter 43

CHAPTER 43

For once it wasn't raining when the train pulled up to the station, and Pansy commented on it with a faint tinge of wonder in her voice, the fading sun illuminating her features and capturing Draco's attention without much effort. She stole Harry's cigarette with a grin and wandered off to share it with Draco while they waited for their respective parents to come pick them up. Not that Harry minded, being preoccupied with getting Raito off of his lap where he had settled himself an hour ago in an effort to frustrate him after Harry had forced them to cut a tryst short because their location had been vulnerable. It was working was all he was going to say on the matter, and snogging in the boy's loo wasn't the smartest idea to do on a train crammed with gossipy teenagers.

Finding his trunk in the mess of ones gathered from his friends who had piled into the same compartment, stretching the enlargement charms to their maximum in the process, he wandered out into the hall but got stopped by Fred and George Weasley who were trying to sell the rest of their stock from the school year before going home. Harry purchased some long-lasting gum (Vladimir had taken a liking to chewing gum lately and all the exercise his jaw was getting made Harry more than a little worried considering that a Vampire could easily rip someone's throat out without special effort) and 'soda' that was actually quite alcoholic. And since he believed in supporting future geniuses, he paid twice as much as they asked for, refusing to take the money back when they tried to sneak it back into his pockets. Giving up, they surrounded him and each kissed a cheek despite his protests, getting scratched shins from an upset Raito for their trouble. Harry shrugged when they mock-complained about his 'rabid beast of a pet', grinning and waving when they headed towards some first years out on the platform to get rid of the rest of their products.

Getting off the train with a bounce in his step, mostly attributed to the cheering charm in the gum, he scanned the area for his guardians, not too surprised to see that they weren't there yet since his guardians were quite possibly the most disorganized people on the face of the earth. He blamed most of this on no female influence. Mrs. Bassington's sporadic and often inebriated visits did not count.

Raito brushed past him saucily, locating their usual waiting bench and sitting on it, tail swaying back and forth casually as he waited for Harry to push his way through the crowds of cooing parents and embarrassed children to sit with him.

Harry never made it half-way.

Out of nowhere a cloaked figure grabbed Harry around the waist, stealing his wand and shoving a sack over his head, apparatating away moments later. Nobody even noticed the event, too busy talking to their friends or parents, and Raito mewled unconsciously as he dashed over to where Harry had last stood, sniffing the last remnants of his scent lingering in the air. He could track the apparatation lines, but maybe he should leave some sort of note for his guardians first? Deciding against it when the magical path proceeded to fade slightly, he vanished as he focused his magic on wherever the kidnapper had disappeared to.

He reappeared with a soft 'pop' in the middle of a sloping field, getting a face-full of wild flowers and coarse grass drained of color from the bright sun high over his head shining as brightly as it wanted to. Changing his form after ensuring that he was alone into that of an elderly human with brown eyes, grey hair, and skin so dark he looked like he was made of old leather. Looking about himself alertly while altering his posture until he was nearly bent double with 'rheumatism', he transformed a blade of grass into a sturdy cane and followed the traces of Harry in the air until he'd walked a good mile or two, trying out his new guise. Whoever had carried him off was using some form of transport, possibly an automobile considering the tracks and smell of petrol.

Deciding to go the fast way, he changed into a breeze and moved so fast that children shrieked when he passed through their playground, taking a moment to swing a young neglected child with no one to push her and to make sure that a boy who'd lost his hat got it back.

Catching up with a large truck moving fast along the paved road (it didn't look like they were in England anymore), he peered in the window, scowling when he saw Harry under a silencing charm with a knife carefully hidden in the hands of his captor pointed at his ribs. The driver was obliviously chattering about some football team to the nodding kidnapper, who had gotten rid of his cloak. His features were non-descript and he hadn't shaved or gotten a hair cut in a while, dressed in a shabby sweatshirt and denims. Asmodeus changed forms again (he was doing a lot of that today) and entered through the exhaust pipe as a fly, concealing himself in a lock of Harry's hair close to his ear. He did some altering to the fly's noise structure and then, despairing of changing God's design, conjured a whisper that only Harry could hear.

"Hey, babe, can you hear me? Nod if you can."

Harry's eyes went wide, and he hesitantly moved his head in a nod.

"Good, 'cause you're the only one who can. You probably guessed already, but I'm your boyfriend and I'm hiding in your hair as a fly right now. I promise I'll get you out of this situation as soon as I can, okay?" Harry nodded again, relief in his eyes but face remaining impassive. Asmodeus smiled inside his mind and whispered, "I love you."

He wished he could do more, but for now they'd have to wait for an opportunity to arise to overpower Harry's kidnapper.

--

The lady sitting across from her smiled down at her in between sips of coffee, eyes sparkling and suit immaculately free of wrinkles. Luna smiled back faintly, twisting her fingers in her lap in an effort to restrain the urge to smoke. She'd been doing a lot more of it since she met _him, _and knew that it wasn't good for her even though she took potions to protect her lungs regularly. A bruise on her wrist sent a jolt of pain up her arm when she rubbed it by accident. She didn't wince, but her eyes pricked.

She was about to dig into her purse for the newspaper to amuse herself when the lady across from her came over to sit beside her, saying, "I really like your hair. What salon do you go to?"

"Um, I can't afford to get my hair done. I do it myself." Luna sheepishly said, fingers catching in a tear in the lace of her cuff.

"Really? It looks great! Where did you get this?" There was an unspoken question if she was allowed to breach the contact wall and Luna nodded, smiling permissively when the woman lifted a braid with a metal birds-head charm on the end. It looked childish, but it was actually the skull of a dead sparrow she'd found, covered in silver she'd gotten by melting a band she'd found in the street gutter once, and it would protect her against magical creatures that could fly, Dragons included.

"I made it." She shyly twirled a curl she'd left loose around a finger, meeting the woman's gaze from under her lashes. If the signs she was picking up were right, the lady was at least sub-consciously attracted to her. And Luna needed the money. "I'm Luna Lovegood. What's your name?"

"I'm Joyce Rivers. Luna Lovegood, huh?" She seemed to be rolling the name around in her mouth and the blonde was happy that she'd told her what her real name was. most of her customers thought it was fake because of the wonderful ring it had to it, and she told them that her real name was Stacy Newton if they asked.

"Yeah."

"Well, that's a way prettier name than Joyce."

"Oh, I wouldn't say so. I like your name better." Luna cheekily retorted, altering her voice into a flirtation. The woman named Joyce flushed and deep inside her mind Luna cheered. It was only a matter of time now.

--

Waking up in a strange apartment, which altogether a new experience, Luna looked around the room just barely filtering in the early morning sun. It was small but nicely furnished and she could see herself in the mirror across from the bed attached to the top of a clothing dresser. She looked disheveled but appealingly so. Smelling her breath, she wrinkled her nose and crawled carefully out of the bed so she wouldn't wake up Joyce. A bed spring creaked and she froze, looking over her shoulder at the other person to see if she'd woken her. The brunette hadn't even moved, bare back rising and falling smoothly with her breaths and Luna noticed a faint scar by her left shoulder-blade, right above her tattoo of a rose. Shaking her head, she made her way over to her purse, removing her toiletries pouch that she always kept on hand for situations like this, heading for the bathroom.

A short but thorough shower later, she brushed her teeth and wondered where she had left her clothes from yesterday and if they were still clean enough to use instead of bothering to open her trunk and sift through the books Harry had dumped on her (not that she minded) to find her clothes.

She wandered back into the bedroom, jumping when Joyce sat straight up in bed with a shriek, clutching at her heart and breathing hard.

"Hey, you okay, hon?" She asked, coming over to sit beside her on the bed, her towel tucked uncomfortably tight under her armpits. She'd raided it from the stack under the sink, but didn't think Joyce would mind too much. The brunette stared at her uncomprehendingly and Luna blinked. They hadn't drunk anything last night so she didn't have the excuse of alcohol to forget the little thing they'd done last night that was responsible for Luna being 50 pounds richer. Her brain seemed to have kicked back into gear, though, and she smiled at Luna tiredly.

"Uh, yeah. I'm good. Just a bad dream is all." Her face was bright red and she was avoiding her eyes, so Luna assumed that Joyce did not hire random underage prostitutes she'd met on trains very often. To make it as un-awkward as possible, she got up and walked over to her purse, pulling out a Muggle pen and some scratch paper. Scribbling down her name and her brothel address along with instructions to ask the woman for her, she handed it to Joyce with a smile and went to find her dress, pulling it over her head after sniffing her undergarments and deciding they were good to wear until she got home. Stepping into her boots and buttoning the last button on her sweater (it looked cold today and overcast so she would need to conjure an umbrella soon), she kissed Joyce on the forehead, stunning her a little if the glazed look in her eyes were any indication.

"See you later, I hope… and sorry about using one of your towels."

"It's okay." The woman automatically replied, playing with the slip of paper. Luna was almost to the door when she heard, "Wait!" She turned.

"Yes?"

"I, um….I had a good time with you. Thanks."

"No problem!" Luna chirped, mentally going over her cigarette stash and resolving to buy some more before she ran out again and maybe step in on Raphael and see if he needed help with anything. Well, he technically didn't need help, but he liked her company and she liked his so she considered it mutually beneficial to pop in on him sometimes and make sure that he hadn't reverted to living off of cheap instant food and coffee.

--

End chapter 43

I drew a picture on my hand. Yep. How that is relevant to the story I do not know…


	44. Chapter 44

CHAPTER 44

The truck was pulling into some sort of parking lot specifically for large vehicles, saying that the town they were looking for was just 2 miles up the road. 'Simon' as the kidnapper has introduced himself, waved goodbye and climbed out of the truck, Harry following to get away from the leering man's gaze.

He smoothed his hair as an excuse to maintain some space between himself and Simon, walking in the direction the driver had indicated while Simon unloaded his trunk from the back of the trunk and dragged it behind him on the wheels Vladimir had installed in a strange bout of creativity months ago. He wanted to smoke, the addictiveness of nicotine finally catching up with him, but thought better of it. Who knew when he would get more and the last thing he wanted was to smoke now and then not have any left for relief when he got stressed out for real. Who knew what this man wanted with him or who he worked for? He could have been given a free pass to rape him or something, and he wasn't about to piss him off. He wished Asmodeus was in a different form other than a fly, and blinked when he felt something heavy settle on his neck under his hair where Simon wouldn't see. A muffled hissing noise made him grin and he pet him, making it look like he was getting his hair off of his neck.

They trudged in the bright sun of the early afternoon (they were in a different time zone) for about half an hour, neither making a move to start a conversation until Harry's stomach growled. He placed a hand delicately over it, flushing slightly and hoping that that hadn't irritated his captor. A hand thrust something into his face and he took it, discovering that it was a packet of beef jerky that he distinctly remembered from the truck driver's glove compartment. So Simon was a thief too?

He opened the plastic with ease and bit into one of the pieces, sneakily giving Asmodeus-the-snake a piece while tucking a lock of hair behind his ear. Simon broke the silence first.

"You're awfully well-behaved for an abducted child."

"I'm not a child. I turn 16 in two weeks." At Simon's wide-eyed stare, he rolled his eyes and said, "I know I'm short, and skinny, but that doesn't make me 12 or something."

"You're fifteen? Really?"

Harry could see that Simon was a bit on the slow side, so he nodded and offered to show him I.D. if he wanted to see proof. He asked to see, and Harry dug it out of his pocket and moved closer to show him.

"Whoa. Do you drink coffee or alcohol or something like that?"

"Both, regularly. Why?"

"Well, those things tend to alter one's growth pattern. You don't look stupid, though, so I guess the alcohol didn't mess with that, although I've never heard of a case where it didn't."

"I'm special." Harry dead-panned.

"So my superior says, and nobody told me why or what it is about you that makes you worth going all the way to England to snatch you for some interrogation."

"And who might your superior be?" Harry hoped that he would finally get some information this time. Simon laughed and replied, "Oh, not so fast, kid. I can't give out information like that. Not like you'll have to wait long before you can meet him face-to-face. Around noon tomorrow we should get there, if we get a ride."

"Couldn't we just apparatate?"

Simon flushed, obviously not having thought of that. "Uh, sure, we could do that. I'm new to the whole Magic thing so I don't usually think in terms of short-cuts like that."

"I'm glad to hear it. So many Wizards let themselves go because they think their magic will protect them, even though they can barely waddle with all that jelly on their bones. And can I ask how one can be new to Magic at your age?"

"Oh, I was, um, home-schooled. Not used to whole societies of magic-users yet and am a little to used to pretending to be a Muggle." He had moved closer so he could touch Harry for the side-along apparatation, shrieking when Asmodeus came out from behind Harry's hair, having changed into a very large cobra who wrapped the rest of his growing body around Harry's hips. Snakes were Mammon's specialty, but it didn't mean he did not appreciate having scales instead of fur every once in a while. You know, to mix up his routine since it got old every couple hundred years.

"Um…" Simon backed up, hands held up, palms facing the massive reptile that had come out of nowhere. Was this boy some kind of conjurer? He had told his boss that he was still inexperienced with magic users, dammit!

He hoped the snake wouldn't eat him.

"Alright, now that the tables have been turned, Simon, I would like to know who you work for. And I wouldn't suggest lying…I can tell when you do, and it would make me _very _angry if you were to try that shit with me." He narrowed his eyes and allowed a bit of his basic magic to create a tiny breeze for effect.

Simon stared and then stuttered out, "I, uh, I can't tell you."

Harry sighed. "I didn't want to do this, because you have treated me decently despite the circumstances of our meeting, but I can and will force you to tell me. Surely whoever taught you magic informed you of the Unforgivable spell known as the Imperius?"

--

Luna arrived at Raphael's apartment, smiling when she saw him sleeping at his desk, a stack of papers serving as a pillow. She made herself some tea, knowing that he wouldn't care, and washed the few dishes that had piled up while she waited for the water to boil.

There was a dull thud behind her and the smell of smoke and brimstone made her cough violently. Turning around, she came nose-to-nose with a red-eyed Creature.

--

End chapter 44

Sorry about the delay! Went out for lunch and didn't get back until mid-afternoon (cringe)


	45. Chapter 45

CHAPTER 45

In finding herself within the gaze of Hell incarnate, Luna did the expected by opening her mouth to gasp and rolling her eyes back in her head while her body slumped against the sink in a dead faint. She was saved from hitting her head on the porcelain by the Creature catching her shoulders quickly, lifting her and carrying her away from the pointy corners and rough tile floor of the kitchen. He snorted a bit in laughter and set the little girl on a sofa that looked like several cats had greatly enjoyed tearing the stuffing out of it.

Wandering soundlessly around the small flat, he entered what was part bedroom and part library judging from the massive stacks of books and medical; journals. Shrugging his shoulders, he picked up a very old text, the parchment yellowed and fragile as Human flesh. It was a list of instructions with hand-drawn illustrations on the disembowelment of an unwilling subject. On the other side was how to put them back inside in a different pattern that would keep the patient alive but in a serious state of constant pain for as long as the practitioner saw fit to let them live on the same plane of existence with them. Grinning, he memorized both sides and replaced it on top of a book of lectures by Nicholas Flamel. Last he'd checked, all the copies had been burned a few hundred years after its publishing by marauding Muggles.

Navigating his way throughout the well-dusted and polished covers, he found who he was looking for sleeping of all things, head pillowed in his arms and sitting in one of those chairs with wheels on the bottom. He tapped him between the shoulder blades, getting no reaction from the blonde other than a sigh and him shifting his arms a little. He rolled his eyes, grasping the back support of the chair and yanking it back, _hard,_ making the Angel tumble to the floor and bash his delicate chin on the edge of the desk.

With a growl the Angel rose to his full, and rather impressive, height, turning to face his tormentor with the Wrath glowing in his eyes. There was a reason a notice not to disturb the Arch-Angel had been posted in large print on the door of his office before he'd wandered down to Earth, whether by choice or otherwise still being unknown.

His eyes did not change, but he inclined his head to the Demon in acknowledgment of their equality, lips thin and jaw clenched. A red tinge was already appearing in the bruised area, probably because the Angel was doing a Human Pain experiment of some kind.

"Beelzebub." He smoothed a hand down himself to straighten out any creases in his clothing. "To what purpose is this meeting?"

"Oh, just checking in on my favorite celestial being." He smiled, infusing all his charm into the facial expression. Raphael's mouth quirked up a little and the fierce glow left his eyes gradually.

"Really, now? Well, you can make yourself comfortable then and I'll make us some coffee or something." He gestured towards the direction of the door and suddenly the Demon decided that the sight of a small girl passed out on his couch might not be such a good thing for the Angel to see.

"Uh, how about I make it so you can have time to finish whatever you were working on there." He gestured casually to the stack of paper on the desk. Raphael didn't buy it, eyes narrowing and a brightness returning to them.

"What the hell did you do to her?"

"Um, who?" Beelzebub began to back away. He knew deep inside that he could do some damage to the Angel, but was far more aware that the Angel could fuck him up so badly that he'd wish he was Mortal and with half the effort. There was a reason he was an archangel, after all.

"You know damn well who." A large hand grabbed the front of the Demon's shirt and tugged so they were sharing the same breathing space, and Beelzebub was quaking in his shoes. And to think that he thought coming to visit the Angel for the heck of it had been a good idea…sometimes he reverted to his younger millennia without realizing it until later. It would seem that this decision had been made by the part of him that would always be impulsive and a little naïve no matter how old he got.

"I didn't do anything to her! She just, you know, fainted."

"She fainted for no reason?" Raphael asked, a sarcastic edge in his voice and a faint smirk coming to play over his lips.

"Yep!" Beelzebub grinned, knowing that Raphael wasn't too upset with him now that he was practically smiling- and it wasn't the one that showed all his teeth at the same time or how pointy they could get.

Setting the Demon down, Raphael exited the bedroom and eyed Luna lying peacefully on his sofa, doing a visual inventory to see if she was damaged in any way. A bruise on her wrist and a series of marks going down her back made his eyes narrow, but he knew it couldn't have been from the Demon since they were a couple days old.

He touched her wrist gently, erasing the bruise and catching sight of a scar on her neck that was made with some kind of sharp metal. He healed that as well, mentally going through who could have done this to his little Human friend. It had never been said of him that he neglected his own.

Whoever the bastard was, they wouldn't be living for much longer.

"Beelzebub, how would you like to eat some souls today?"

His only reply was a grin that would have made Miss Lovegood pass out again if she saw it. It wasn't meant to be seen by those who would living for longer than a few hours after witnessing it, after all.

--

Harry stared impassively down at the twitching man, mind moving far faster than could be recorded over the new information he had. Apparently kidnapping people with the potential for powerful magic wasn't unusual, and at the very least they were observed if they weren't considered worth kidnapping. The man Simon worked for had learned that two very high-ranking Vampires had been hovering around Hogwarts school for young magic users, and had sent a animagus to spy on them for a few days to see who they were watching, finding the subject to be a teenager named Harry Potter.

This was…this was not good. If he was in the eye of different organizations like the one Simon was a member of, disappearing to live a happy and fulfilled life alone with Asmodeus was becoming more of a daydream than reality.

At the rate his personal space was disappearing, he would end up committing suicide for some peace and quiet to collect his thoughts.

He removed the Imperius from Simon with a tired flick of his hand, not having the energy to be upset. The man was just a pawn and not worth killing or whatever else he could do to keep him quiet. After all, any significant display of temper or force could just draw more attention to him.

"Hey, Simon, could you tell your boss that I was a mistake, like, that I was the wrong kid or something? Please?"

Simon nodded, looking disoriented and unsteady on his feet. His eyes wandered all over the hills and dips in the land on either side of the flat expanse of black pavement. Harry smiled and patted his arm goodbye, allowing Asmodeus to 'smoke' them to the train station where they had first disappeared.

Rubbing a hand through his hair while Asmodeus shifted into the body he was used to associating with his boyfriend, he felt with his magic the wards on the pillar that blocked the way to the Muggle world. He untangled it for a few seconds and gestured for the Demon to come with as he ran through it and reappeared on the other side with Asmodeus. It was late at night in England, and Harry gnawed on a fingernail as he tried to decide whether he should go home first or get something to eat. He was really hungry, and it swayed his decision-making process so he headed towards the nearest all-night petrol station for some cheap packaged food. Asmodeus stayed Human, but didn't say anything, only remaining as close to Harry as he could without restricting his movements. Harry grinned at him and took his hand, squeezing it and asking him what he wanted to eat out of the large selection of sugary, salty, and fatty items. There seemed to be an endless selection of crisps, and he spent a while deliberating between several flavors and then decided to get them all. If they couldn't finish them, they would just give it to his dad since James loved crisps a little too much.

The dead-looking girl at the counter seemed to come to life when she saw them holding hands, scowling and hissing "Goddamned fags…" When she thought they were out of earshot and had rung up the items. Harry turned and flipped her off; wishing people like her would get a life and stop hating people who were different.

They sat on a bench by a bus stop, splitting the junk food evenly between them and eating slowly, neither speaking and Harry leaning against the Demon's side. He wished he didn't feel so awkward about his own body, which he felt to be a barrier between them.

--

They got home two hours before sunrise after a sugar-induced sight-seeing spree around London that had eventually led to several bored policemen following them to make sure they stayed out of trouble.

Harry giggled, sounding drunk, and leaned happily back against his father's chest and handing him the crisps they had saved for him.

Then he realized that he had left his trunk with Simon.

--

End chapter 45

Whoops, Harry forgot something!


	46. Chapter 46

CHAPTER 46

Buried so deeply within the layers of Hell's most complex divisions was a chamber divided into isolated cells, the sector reserved for the stubborn undead and those who really couldn't be let to wander through the halls of pain with everyone else until they found the one that suited them to the point of instilling a terror so deep-set that they could never even unstuck their limbs to carry them away. After all, such things were for the ignorant and the godless to be snared by, not the truly demented whose madness has led them to a higher level of intelligence unavailable to the rest of their kind. It was in one of these cells that Tom Marvolo Riddle's soul resided in, all traces of his body completely destroyed on Earth by his captors to prevent any well-meaning followers from resurrecting him via Necromancy, even though tampering with a dead body was against the rules that bound the Demons. Not that they cared, having disregarded the vast majority of the rules long ago.

Floating in a mercurial liquid, he contemplated how long it would take before the lack of any way to distract him drove him insane. He didn't think it would take very long at all since he was literally completely alone and there was no sign of that changing anytime soon. He wondered if he would be stronger when he went crazy again. Unstable thought patterns tended to release suppressed adrenaline and memories normally 'forgotten'.

He smiled at the thought of seeing the sky again some day and maybe experiencing the thrill of slicing through human flesh, thick life fluid seeping out because of him. He had always loved the rush being in complete control of whether someone would live or die had given him. He tried to shift his body towards where he dimly remembered as the direction from which the Demon who had dumped him here had disappeared in and his body floated dutifully over, the strange liquid that was currently rather gelatinous carrying him with ease until he bumped something. The something propelled him back to the middle of the cell before he could even figure out what kind of material it was. he growled low in his throat, ambition to escape swelling up to replace his previous daydreams. If he wanted to see the world again and breathe the sweet air, made toxic by Muggle's petrol and chemicals, he was going to get out of here, dammit, if it was the last conscious thing he ever did!

He found it ironic that he used to be an atheist, and now here he was attempting to wage war against God's servants. At least it made the whole Christian religion a lot more believable now considering that he used to be very confused about what sort of spellwork Jesus Christ had been using to inspire such long-lasting and fanatical loyalty.

Brushing his wandering thoughts away, he moved back towards the wall, trying to touch the wall. Something electrocuted his arm, making him shriek in startlement. He had almost believed that the guards had left, and that it was only built-in mechanisms that held him in his cage. Oh, this was going to take a very long time, and he would need to build up an immunity or at least become so accustomed to being shocked that it wouldn't distract him when he really did make the attempt to break out.

--

Lucifer looked up from his intense game of chess with Leviathan. The blonde raised an eyebrow at him, taking a long swig from his bottle of champagne from the 1800s.

"What is it, sir?"

He was rewarded with a massive grin. "Tommy boy is stirring in his shackles. The fool actually thinks he can get out of the sector we've left him in." Levi grinned back.

"Wanna go watch the show?"

"Sure, but lets finish the game first. I'm winning, for once…" He trailed off as Leviathan check-mated him unexpectedly with his queen.

"You were saying?"

"Shut up." Lucifer waved his hand and the chess set put itself away. "Prick…" He muttered under his breath, making Leviathan almost choke from laughing while drinking champagne.

"I'm sorry, I didn't catch that, Luci."

"None of your damn business!" Behind his anger the Demon was sulking, so Leviathan wasn't worried about being blasted with holy lightning just yet. He just hoped the brunette wouldn't realize that he had taken the better bottle of wine until he was well out of blasting range.

--

The late morning sunshine spilled in through the panes of glass of Harry's window as a breeze played with Harry's curtains, stirring the pages in his neglected book and ruffling his hair. He was alone, Asmodeus being summoned to 'watch something' by Lucifer. His boyfriend had written back that he was busy. Lucifer had written again and sent it with Leviathan, who had happily rambled about somebody named 'Tom' while dragging a protesting Asmodeus away.

At least he got a goodbye kiss this time.

He sighed and got out of bed, closing the window and pulling off his shirt and sleep trousers to get properly dressed since he was hungry enough to go find some leftovers from breakfast and didn't feel like walking down there where Mrs. Bassington was probably chatting with Broni about what to do with the garden this year. He absently went over his neglected suspicions about her husband and why they had moved out here into the middle of nowhere so suddenly when they were obviously city people.

His stomach growled at him as he took his time pulling his hair back so it wouldn't lie on his neck, teeth moss-free after a good scrubbing and skin still wet from thorough washing.

"Yeah, yeah…I'll eat soon." He muttered to it, feeling a little ridiculous for talking to his organs but not really having the energy to care. He headed down stairs, waved at Mrs. Bassington from where she was sitting in the living room with Broni as he had suspected and disappeared into the kitchen before she could hug him. His birthday was tomorrow and some idiot (cough Vladimir cough) had mentioned it to the woman and now she had bought him a present and everything, planning to make him a cake. Considering the way her mind worked, sometime tomorrow his dad would probably take him out for a long walk and he'd come back to the house suffocated in streamers and balloons. He unwillingly shuddered at the idea, even though he appreciated her consideration and affection for him, almost dropping the pitcher of orange juice. He spilled a little on the floor, though, and hurried to clean it up before it stained the wood.

He took a bite of cold toast, sitting on the bench by the window and vainly trying to think of something not connected to his missing boyfriend. Lately any separation, whether long or short, disturbed him and awakened a very strong urge to be as close to the other male as possible every time he saw him again. One of these days he was going to get too excited and go a little too far too fast. He just prayed that when that day came, he wouldn't feel any regrets because he really and truly loved the Demon and couldn't bear to worry him with something as trivial as cold feet.

He finished the toast and washed it down with his juice, deciding to read outside and enjoy the cool breeze while they had it.

--

Ginny ran her fingers along the petals of a delicate yellow flower, plucking one off and whispering, "She loves me, she loves me not, she loves me, she loves me not, she loves me…" She continued to remove a petal with every time she spoke the alternating phrases, a small bitter part of her constantly sniping and saying that divination this puerile was a waste of time. An even smaller part frantically whispered that it was wrong to love another girl, especially one who thought they were just friends. For all she knew, the object of her affection could have a boyfriend. Luna had always been rather close-mouthed about her private life, but Ginny wasn't as bothered by that as she had been when she was little. The bruises lately really worried her, but her friend's eyes had begged her not to ask so she had ignored them and talked about innocent and care-free things, the dark cloud of her worry floating just beneath the surface of her signature inane chatter that she knew reassured people in its normalcy.

"She loves me not." Ginny did not whisper the verdict of the last petal, believing that it needed more finality, feeling depressed despite knowing that there was little real truth in the number of petals a flower had. She plucked another and started over, hoping for better results.

--

From a window a few feet above their unsuspecting sister's head, Fred and George Weasley observed her steadily destroy 4 of the flowers she was so very fond of since she had planted them herself when she was 7 years old with mum's help. They exchanged looks and wished that they could open the window without it creaking and startling her into ceasing her apparently disappointing search for a favorable answer amongst her flowers.

Coming to an unspoken decision, they left the window and headed outside, navigating around the house until they stood on either side of her seated form, staring down at her as she ignored them in favor of finishing her 6th flower.

George cleared his throat. She looked up briefly and smiled vaguely, eyes glassy. He blinked. That was a new look for her. He looked helplessly at Fred, who knelt on the grass beside her, gently stopping her hand from uprooting anymore of her flowers. She would never have done something like this if she was in her right mind so they assumed she was on her 'special week' of the month.

"Um, Gin, honey, are you okay?" Fred gently asked, moving closer while George mirrored him on her other side. They knew that they wouldn't get to see their little sister as much once summer was over since they would be too busy setting up their joke shop, which already occupied much of their time. Sure, they'd see her on Hogsmeade weekends, but that would be a far cry from daily as they were used to.

"Yeah…I'm fine." She didn't sound fine at all. She sounded like she was about to cry but they weren't sure whether they should leave her to herself or stay and possibly invoke the much-feared female wrath.

"You're sure?" George asked, rubbing her back. She paused a beat and then nodded, murmuring, "Yes. They're just stupid flowers, after all."

"…?"

"The flowers; they are hardly a trustworthy source, you know." She said a little louder, jerking her hand at the scattered remains. A breeze came through and blew some into the air, making her smile a little as some of the yellow bits got into her hair.

"And who might it be that has reduced you to playing with flowers like so?" George asked, stroking one of the still-living flowers and marveling at the silky texture. They should look into making fabric that had this texture for girls…

"Oh, no one…No one at all." Ginny replied, grinning mischievously and looking far more present.

"Really? That must be some non-existent person, to be worth the deaths of so many hapless little floras."

"Quite. They are a most impressive figure…too bad they don't exist." She untucked her legs from under her skirt and stretched them out before her as she lowered herself to bask in a bright beam of sunlight that came through a gap in the branches of the trees above her head.

The twins joined her, Fred removing a chocolate frog from his pocket and dividing it among them, saving the largest piece for him of course.

"Whenever you feel the urge to indulge your older brothers and tell us just who it is, we will listen, alright?" Fred took a bite of his chocolate, eyeing his sister sincerely. She grinned and nodded.

"Good."

--

End chapter 46


	47. Chapter 47

CHAPTER 47

It was his sixteenth birthday at last, and the only downside so far was that Asmodeus still wasn't back. He had bit all of his fingernails to the quick by now and the floor carpet in his bedroom was getting worn down and actually unraveling in some areas from all of his pacing. He read while he paced, wanting to learn and yet having too much nervous energy to sit still while his beloved was still god-knows-where, getting into trouble with that blonde. He mentally seethed whenever he thought of Leviathan possibly taking advantage of his boyfriend's pent-up sexual frustration while they were separated. He wouldn't put it past the younger Demon to seduce his boyfriend, and he just wished that if that _did _happen that Asmodeus would still want him.

Currently he was in the bathroom, finishing scrubbing the bath tub while on his very sore knees. He normally wasn't one for house work, but the old stains on the porcelain were begging to be bleached and he didn't have anything else to do until he went to a library or book shop. Attempts to distract himself had resulted in him speed-reading and exhausting his entire stock of books, even re-reading old textbooks and the like in an effort to take his mind off of what Levi could be saying or doing to Asmodeus. The blonde was very attractive, Harry could easily admit, and if he wasn't involved already he would very much consider the Demon of Envy as an option. He scowled at the dangerous territory his thoughts had wandered into and redirected them to reviewing all the information on magical Creatures he had studied in the past week, scrubbing hard enough to make the bleach soften his nails as he created a mental inventory.

His ears pricked up when the soft sound of approaching sock-clad feet entered his sense spectrum, angling his head so that his hair covered the eye that would be watching the door while he looked as if he were solely focused on his task.

Harry pretended to be utterly oblivious to the undercurrent when his father shuffled over to him and asked him if he wanted to go into town with him to pick up some groceries, despite Broni having already purchased everything they needed for that month well in advance. He set down his brush and smiled at his dad, asking if Maalik was coming as well. The husbands had been practically attached at the hip from what he had seen and he found himself thinking it was more than a little adorable how they now relied on each other to finish their thoughts and sentences sometimes.

"Not today. He didn't sleep well last night so-" Harry's mind came up with quite a few colorful and perverted ideas why his step-father was so very tired and blushed crimson "he's taking a nap."

"Oh, alright; just let me get some shoes on, okay?" after washing his hands he went into the hall closet by the door and pulled out some sandals since it was very hot today and he couldn't bear to incase his feet in boots for once. He could hear his father's footsteps follow him to the bench by the stairs, and he followed him out the door, neither of them particularly happy about the way the sun would be beating down on their backs the entire long walk both ways.

"So, Harry, are there any girls at your school that you've got your eye on? That little blonde friend of yours is quite pretty…"

Harry resigned himself to a very long couple of hours. It wasn't that he didn't love his father with all his heart, but sometimes he could be absolutely blind since there was a hickey on his neck that could not possibly have been made with the delicate mouth of a schoolgirl. Reaching into his pockets, he sifted through loose change and his packet of cigarettes with attached lighter until he found a bright yellow lolly. It was a new flavor, supposed to be dragon flames. He licked it and grinned. It tasted like smoked loganberries, and he loved loganberries ever since the House Elves had kidnapped him during a free period and shoved a mouthful into him, anxiously asking for an opinion. It would seem that he had become a sort of food taster for new creations or something.

His father was still rambling about girls when they arrived at the grocer's, Harry nodding and pretending to listen while grabbing a basket and politely interrupting his father's monologue with a question of what, exactly, they were buying. He sincerely hoped that his family could decorate the house or whatever fast because the heat was really getting to him and he tended to become short-tempered when he felt like he was being cooked while still conscious.

"Um…" James fished into his pocket and removed a much-rumpled scrap of lined Muggle paper, reading out loud, "Coffee, three different types of tea, sugar, and you can pick out some fruit."

"Oh, okay. Do you want to go get the drinks while I deal with the others?" James nodded and wandered off to the correct aisle of the cramped store while Harry quickly tracked down the sugar and selected some grapes from the pile, getting the bunch that was entirely mold and bruise-free. He went to find his father and grinned when he saw him juggling a few boxes of tea and a canister of coffee. Moving to remove them from his hands and setting them in the basket, making for the front counter afterwards while James followed, looking a little dazed from inhaling too much tea (A/N: seriously. All the herbs are disorienting sometimes).

Carrying the lighter bag at his father's insistence, they wandered around town a little aimlessly until Harry asked if they could stop at the book store. James, never having had the 'wonderful' experience of being in a bookstore with Harry before, said yes with a casual shooing motion of his hand, not quite comprehending how Harry could show so many teeth with one smile.

His son scampered inside after dumping his flimsy plastic bags into his arms, disappearing amongst the meager shelves almost immediately. James ended up following the sound of jangling pocket change until he found the teenager standing on his toes and reaching for a book on the top shelf in the section of resale books. Its title was smudged off, but the author was done in dull gold letters spelling out 'Herodotus' into the beige linen that made up the cover. It was very cheap, and his son's eyes were wide with pleading. James caved and reached into his pocket and removing enough money for a few more of the cheaper books.

"Knock yourself out."

"Thanks, dad!" James found his arms full of excited Harry for a moment before he went back to scanning the shelves intently, removing an art book of cherry blossoms, a copy of Goethe's Faustus that looked like it had been dropped in a very large puddle but was still legible, and finally a collection of fairy stories for children by the Brothers Grimm. He accomplished all of this in about 30 seconds, dazzling his father with his speed.

The young man at the register looked a little taken aback when he saw the maniacal teenager who always ignored the youth section and went for the hardcore stuff. This kid should have a leash put on him when he was around books or something.

Purchasing the books, Harry took back his grocery bags and happily swung them in one hand while cradling the stiff paper bag containing his treasures to his chest with the other. They went to the petrol station so James could use the restroom before they walked home and Harry took advantage of his moment of peace by buying two more packets of cigarettes. He hoped he got some money for his birthday because he now didn't have anymore. Cigarettes, liquor, and books would make him go bankrupt, that was for sure.

James came out of the bathroom, not noticing Harry's rapid movement of stuffing the packets and a thing of peppermints into his paper bag.

"You ready to head home?"

"Sure." Harry shrugged and took out a new lolly from his pocket, the tried and true Blood Pop. Sticking it in his mouth, he winked and waved goodbye to the tired mechanic who covered the petrol station when not working in the tune-up shop connected to the back.

The man waved back with a sly look in his eye, obviously thinking about his own misspent youth.

--

When they got back to the house, Harry hid his grin at the sight of the darkened windows and a forgotten scrap of colored tissue peeking out from under the door. He shifted his bags to one hand while shaking his head a little at their antics. They were so obvious sometimes it was endearing.

He tossed his thin lolly stick into the bushes before ascending the porch steps to stand beside his dad while he unlocked the front door.

It creaked open and all was still for a second and then the lights flicked on and someone screamed "SURPRISE!" A few seconds later, everybody else did too, scowling at Vladimir for ruining their synchronization and smiling at Harry. He was surprised to see the Lovegoods and the Tonks as well as Blaise and Draco in addition to a glowing Mrs. Bassington and her sulking husband. He hugged his guardians and friends, exclaiming about what a good job they did with the decorations even though they looked like a child's crayon scribble. It was the thought that counted, after all. He noted that Mr. Bassington's hand felt rather like the flesh of a wet fish when he shook it, but hid his disgust easily.

He was ushered into the dining room and seated at the head despite his protests, everybody doing a sort of free-for-all in seating themselves around the enlarged table once he was shoved into his chair. Blaise managed to snag a seat next to Harry while Vladimir got the other, engaging his classmate in a comparatively subdued discussion about which Muggle country had had the best National Anthem. They both agreed that the one used by the Russian USSR was the best that they knew of, Blaise absently drawing a picture of Lenin on his palm with a Muggle pen that he'd gotten from Isadora Tonks, who sat on his other side placidly shaping the vegetables on her plate into a replica of the British flag despite the colors being off. Her mother shook her head at her and told her not to play with her food, forcing the brunette to cease in her creative efforts and pop a piece of broccoli into her mouth. Sitting on Isadora's other side was Luna, busily cutting her father's food into small manageable bites and eating her own food while he ate what she prepared for him.

Harry could tell that she had spiked her lemonade from the slightly glazed look in her eyes and the pretty flush to her cheeks. Either that or she'd been with Raphael earlier since she had confessed to him in a letter yesterday that the Angel (not that she knew that part) had kissed her on the forehead when she'd brought him some food last week.

He wondered if he should tell her what the Angel was, but was interrupted in his internal argument by Bronislav re-entering the dining room after disappearing into the kitchen with Annette, bearing a large cake and she the knife and what looked like ice cream. Harry was told to make a wish once the candles lighted, so he shut his eyes tight and concentrated on images of his boyfriend and his own lack of confidence. He wished for better self esteem and maybe some personal poise before blowing out the cheap Muggle candles, most of which were pink because the store had been out of every colors besides that and a small set of yellow ones.

When he opened his eyes, he felt a faint jolt like electricity all over his body. Blinking, he wondered what had just happened. Shrugging it off, he opened his gifts in between bites of cake, enjoying the company of his loved ones and making sure that he didn't tear the wrapping paper so he could either re-use it or give it to Luna, who collected it for reasons unknown to the sane man. The blonde stood beside and folded the paper when he handed it to her, swaying a little on her feet and keeping an eye out for her father who was happily eating the soft cake and drinking the sugary lemonade. She hoped all the sweets wouldn't give him one of those freaky energy boosts that made him so hard to keep under control. She'd hadn't gotten nearly enough sleep last night and didn't have a lot of energy today, although the food had helped a lot. She hoped Harry liked her present, which was an emerald green sweater with a large 'H' embroidered on the front in yellow thread. It hadn't taken her long to make, but she had made sure that it would be soft and warm so he would hopefully wear it even if it looked a little embarrassing. To her startlement, he pulled it on immediately after unwrapping it despite the heat, grinning at her and saying that he couldn't resist such a fine piece of craftsmanship. For that bit of flattery she'd hugged him, wondering why James Potter was grinning like that at them.

--

Luna ended up spending the night after seeing to her father's well-being and comfort, and was set up in a guest room that the Black brothers normally used. Since both were conveniently doing business in Germany, this wasn't a problem. Once the adults had gone to bed she snuck out, ending up sleeping next to Harry since she somehow knew he was lonely, although she didn't think he had a girlfriend or usual bed partner. Seeing that his pet kitty was gone, she understood and borrowed one of his sweaters to wear over her raggedy nightgown and socks since it was a cold night. He wore the one she'd made him and long pants. Under the massive amount of covers on the bed, they whispered together until the early hours of the morning about whatever came to mind, neither of them craving any alcohol or cigarettes for once.

They woke at 6:30 the next morning and Luna crept back into her room, borrowing a few extra blankets since it was overcast and gloomy today. There was a definite chill in the air and Harry lay in bed reading under the covers, delaying his shower since he didn't want to part with any of his layers of clothing just yet. Luna pretended to come visit him a few hours later, when his family was awake, and curled up on the opposite end of the bed with one of his books, socked feet crossed at the ankle and revealing to Harry the duck print on the soles. She threw a pillow at him when he jokingly commented that farm animal-print socks were intended for little kids. She then bummed a cigarette, opening the window a crack to let the smoke out in case his guardians came in to check on them. Harry also lit a candle so the smoke that lingered anyway would seem to come from it.

It was close to lunch by the time they got a little tired of reading and Luna began going through the completed sections of his homework while he showered since he did it faster. When he was done she went in, using his toiletries and borrowing one of Asmodeus' shirts to use as a dress (she wondered whose it was, and from the way Harry blushed she assumed he was seeing whoever it belonged to romantically. One does not work as a prostitute for as long as she did without picking up the signs, after all) since it reached her knees.

She ate lunch with them before heading back home to get some more sleep before going out that night. Harry forgot to tell her about Raphael.

--

End chapter 47


	48. Chapter 48

CHAPTER 48

Luna moved slowly down the street, a plastic bag containing some second-hand coats for the near-homeless children who lived in whatever shelter that would let them in throughout this area. As she walked past an alleyway, she heard a faint stirring and her warning antennae made the hair on her arms and neck stand on end. She kept walking, but heard a faint rustle of cloth rubbing against cloth as whoever was in the alley moved. Soft footsteps on the mixture of gravel, concrete, and even cobblestones urged her to move just fast enough to not look like she was in a hurry or running away in case the person really was a stalker and didn't think she knew they were there yet.

Pretending to need to look at something in her purse, she stopped and leaned against the brick of the wall beside the sidewalk, digging through the contents of her purse for a cigarette. The stranger came over and stopped just beside her. She couldn't feel anything breath from them and choked slightly when her Inner Eye picked up the chilled presence. It was a Vampire, although she didn't know what one would want with her unless it was freshly turned, which wasn't likely, or desperately hungry. Since Vampires were Human once too, most of them did not like killing or randomly attacking Humans just to fee and preferred to purchase the blood from blood banks or morgues if they needed Human blood in the first place.

She turned her head with a feigned start, asking politely, "Would you like one?" She held out the pack of cigarettes and met their eyes straight-on so she could decide whether they were hungry or not. Their eyes weren't red or even remotely orange or pink but rather the dull color of dried blood which meant she had just feed and wouldn't be hungry for quite some time now so she smiled and shook the pack playfully. She smiled back, features mostly shadowed from the hood of a teal sweatshirt but she looked friendly enough, and her thin bone-like fingers took one of the fags with ease.

"Have you got a light?" Her voice was like butter, and Luna basked in the new experience, remembering that blood smoothed the throat muscles of Vampires and made their voices more appealing. It was nice to actually hear it rather than trying to imagine what her books described.

"Yeah, wait a moment." She lit it for her and tucked the supplies back into her purse, holding hers between two fingers and taking a drag as soon as she released her bag to hand on her shoulder again.

"Thanks luv." Her voice, under the butter, had the deep rasp of someone who had smoked for far longer than is healthy. Her teeth glittered a little in the dull light of a distant lamp and Luna mentally catalogued her features to look up in the Ministry's records sometime.

"So, what might a girl your age be doing on the streets at this time of night, and by yourself, too?"

"Oh, just wandering about, enjoying the evening and running some errands."

"I hardly think 3 in the morning still counts as evening." The vampire grinned at her, eyes twinkling and the smoke forming a haze around her head. Luna shook her head and started walking again, the other woman at her side and puffing steadily away at the cigarette. When they reached the shelter where the children were staying tonight, Luna knocked once on the splintering door and set the bag on the front step, descending the concrete steps afterwards and walking towards an all-night Laundromat to warm up a little before heading home. She could probably cast a warming charm on herself without the Ministry picking it up, but some new research suggested that using unnatural direct means to heat or cool yourself was detrimental to your chromosomes or something.

Reaching it, she wondered why the Vampire was still sticking with her but didn't ask, wordlessly entering and holding the door for the Creature.

"What's your name, kid?" The Vampire asked, sitting on one of the horrid stained plastic chairs in all the shades of vomit and flicking some ash from her cigarette onto the tiled floor.

"Luna. And I'm not a kid." She didn't know why, but lately being referred to as a child seemed drastically incorrect despite her age clearly being that of one. Maybe she had mental premature aging or something annoying like that? "What's yours?"

"Sylvi."

"That's Finnish, right?"

"Yeah…you study names or something?"

"Or something. I tend to pick up a lot of mostly useless information. I've heard its even considered a skill in some countries." Sylvi smirked and nodded her head a little, sucking the last bit of goodness from her cigarette before pushing the door open a little with her foot and tossing it out onto the concrete where flower beds ought to have been.

"Want another?" Luna asked, still finishing hers off. "I've got a lot."

"If you don't mind…"

"Wouldn't have offered if I did." Luna replied with a brief smile, tossing her the half-empty pack. "Hey, just keep the whole thing."

"Thanks…Luna." The Vampire said her name slowly, like she was testing it out. Luna found herself enjoying the new way her name sounded coming out of the throat of a sated Vampire. It sounded different.

"No problem. What are _you _doing out tonight?"

"Just some surveillance for my boss that's too important to entrust to the usual flunkies; got some hunting in too on the side since I was feeling a little hungry after several hours sitting outside my targets house and watching them go about their business. Humans are _weird _when they're alone."

Luna laughed, but there was a false edge to it when she connected the Vampire's sudden introduction and the creeping feeling of being watched that she'd had while practicing some exotic dance moves in her room for this club she was thinking of joining on weekends to bring in some steadier cash.

"Are you watching…me?"

"Yep." The Vampire replied, not a bit of hesitation in her answer.

--

End chapter 48

Sorry about the wait. Have been having a little writer's block and feel a little pissed with myself for succumbing to its power.

Reviews fuel this baby. Without them, it will die.


	49. Chapter 49

A/N: Welcome back, honey-senpai! hugs

CHAPTER 49

Luna blinked. "Would…would it be too much to ask why?"

"Yes." Sylvi's hand made a flippant gesture, scattering ash from her latest cigarette over the floor. A male university student who had entered in a different door focused his attention on them a moment before returning to his magazine and crossing one leg over the other. Luna eyed a scar on his ankle that the raised pant leg revealed, briefly wondering where he'd gotten it before returning her mind to the current emergency. Most of what she did on a daily basis was illegal and she really didn't want to go to prison or worse: a reformation center meant to brainwash street 'victims' into normal girls.

Call her paranoid, but she didn't trust things funded by the government.

"Look, honey, I'm not gonna eat you or something. I was just ordered to watch you and I didn't have a choice in the matter. Be happy that I'm not a dude, or else you might be in danger for a little more than a set of eyes following you, if you know what I mean."

Luna knew what she meant, alright, and nodded a little shakily. Vampires were far stronger than Humans and didn't need to sleep so, considering that, getting raped by one would be horrible. To calm herself down, she took some deep drags of her cigarette, avoiding looking at the Creature beside her. The university student was clearly only pretending to read the magazine, his eyes watching them through his fringe. Luna stuck out her tongue at him, feeling the need to indulge in the childish urge. He made a face back, grinning afterwards and making a motion with his hand that he wanted to bum a cigarette. She sighed and tossed one to him, risking a glance at Sylvi and quickly looking away when she met the burgundy eyes straight-on. There was something unnerving about them that sent shivers down her spine and made her cross her legs tightly together and fold her arms, sticking her hands in her armpits. The student across from them looked back and forth between them curiously, shrugged, and lit his cigarette with a flame-covered lighter.

The clock ticked particularly loudly and Luna looked at it, seeing that it was now 4 in the morning.

"Um, I should get going, Sylvi. It was nice meeting you and I'm sure I'll see you again soon." She offered her hand to shake and the freezing hand of the Creature took it, and Luna noticed that her fingernails were painted yellow.

"Likewise, although I wouldn't be so sure about seeing _me. _I'll see you, of course."

"I'm sure…" Luna muttered, picking up her purse and exiting the Laundromat with as much dignity as she could manage while beginning to realize that she was dead tired and that sleeping in the street might not be as uncomfortable as it looked.

Shaking her head and getting a dizzy spell for her foolishness, she stumbled along for a while until she considered it safe to apparatate home, landing on the kitchen floor with a loud thump a moment later. She sleepily tossed her keys that she rarely used into the dish on the counter, pulling off her worn sneakers with the other hand while thanking god that they didn't have laces or buttons or some other sort of complicated fastening.

Walking down the hall towards the stairs, she almost missed the figure sitting calmly on her living room sofa. She choked when she noticed him and whipped out her wand too fast to be seen as more than a blurred movement.

"Who are you?!" She demanded loudly, wide awake in her terror and wand shaking slightly with her hand; she took a step forward and made sure to stand up straight to look more authoritative. Her home was warded, dammit, and you had to be either keyed into them or powerful enough to break them to be inside. He didn't answer so she flicked her wand to turn on the Muggle lamp on the table beside the sofa. Its light revealed none other than Albus Dumbledore, only his beard was short and scraggly and his face streaked with dirt and the minor cuts one got from bushes and tree branches. He wore tattered Muggle clothes under a thin Wizarding robe that was obviously purchased second-hand or possibly stolen from a beggar. Albus smiled, trying to look benign and grandfatherly. "Young lady, why don't you lower that wand of yours?"

She scowled, hand steadying so the magical rod no longer trembled and shook her head. "What do you think you're doing here? This is private property and I have no qualms adding 'breaking and entering' to your list of crimes in the Ministry's records, old man."

His mask of goodwill dropped and he snapped his fingers, making her wand break neatly in half. A feather fluttered out of it before her stunned eyes. She looked back up at him, open-mouthed and caught an ugly look of triumph on his face. She was sickened to think of just what a man like this could have done to the students he had watched over for so long.

"Now, since you are now defenseless, I would appreciate your silence on the matter of me using this house as a headquarters of sorts, and if any of my followers ask, I want you to say that you offered this pathetic house to me to use. Am I clear?"

Her lips thinned, eyes narrow and hands clenched into fists at her sides. A swelling feeling occurred deep in the pit of her stomach, rising like the waves and making her sway a little side to side. Dumbledore's eyes widened when a faint glow surrounded her, and the windows pulsed before shattering and scattering glass all over the house in miniscule shards that sliced through his clothes and hers. Distantly, she could hear her father had awakened at the noise and was struggling to get out of his office but couldn't because Dumbledore had placed a chair under the doorknob.

The old man shrieked rather like a girl when his clothes burst into flame and Luna turned her hazy eyes onto him. The shards on the floor fluttered before rising steadily into the air and forming a whirlwind that shaved an layer of the floor off as it moved through the house, surrounding the ex-headmaster and then pausing for half a second before entering him through any orifice the glass could find. Luna closed her eyes to avoid getting blood in them, and moved calmly over to her father's office, ignoring the screams of agony behind her, and removed the chair from under the knob. The door creaked as it shakily opened, one misty grey eye peering out at her. She smiled at her father and soothingly stroked the white-knuckled hand clenching the doorframe. The screams abruptly ceased with a small gurgle but she still didn't turn, not wanting to have to clean up her own vomit after seeing the gruesome remains.

"Don't worry, daddy, I'll take care of the body."

--

Harry sighed and paced his bedroom. It had been 3 weeks now without a wink or a letter of his wayward boyfriend. Despite knowing that very few things could truly hurt the Demon, he was still worried as hell.

A casual knock on his door, and then it opened to reveal Maalik with a sandwich on a plate. "Hey, kiddo, you hungry?"

His stomach growled "Uh….yeah, now that I think about it. Thanks!" In between bites he asked with a wink, "Did you make this just for me?" Maalik sniggered and replied, "Not quite. I was trying to get James to eat something, but all he can keep down right now is fruit and even then it's shaky."

"Damn. How's he doing?" James had gotten sick with the flu a few days ago and Maalik had been nursing him back to health as well as he was able. The poor man was still bed-ridden and, knowing him, bored out of his mind. Most of the time Harry would go in a talk to him about random stuff to try and keep his mind off of Asmodeus and it worked pretty well, but he couldn't talk all day and James needed to nap a lot.

"He's getting better…at least he can sit up fully now without getting nauseous, right?"

Harry nodded, eyes glancing over at the pair of sneakers his father had soaked with the contents of his stomach yesterday. No cleaning charm seemed to be able to get rid of the smell so he'd given up and just let them air out the natural way. He finished the sandwich and offered to take the plate downstairs since he was going to go for a walk to get some fresh air. There was a nice, if a little too cold; wind and the skies were clear so he saw no reason not to enjoy the weather.

Maalik disappeared into the bedroom he shared with his husband and Harry headed downstairs to wash the plate before going outside barefoot and heading into the woods in the opposite direction than the one that led towards town. Nobody had lived out here in hundreds of years, they said, and he wondered if there were any remains of homes of those who had in the days before man was dependant on his own kind instead of nature to survive.

He passed by an apple tree that was probably all that was left of an old orchard and bit into it as he continued to walk. The sun moved in its usual arc over his head and he paused to rest several times, mentally cataloguing his distance and going over his memories so he could apparatate back home in case he stayed out late. He usually didn't magic so cheaply, but he really wanted to be out for a while and if he added walking back to his time then he wouldn't get to go as far as he wanted to.

He passed by a few rotting planks of wood.

--

End chapter 49

Next chapter will be number 50! OMG!


	50. Chapter 50

CHAPTER 50

The station was quite crowded when they arrived, since for once they weren't early, and Harry almost lost his hold on his trunk several times while trying to properly say goodbye to his family. He hugged James one last time and then sprinted off to the train, trunk banging against the concrete platform behind him. He boarded with a little effort, but a prefect he didn't know grabbed his elbow and prevented him from overbalancing with a smile. He smiled vaguely back, moving down the hall amongst chatting students to a compartment that contained Luna, Ginny, Draco, and Pansy. It was hard for him to act like everything was fine; knowing that Asmodeus wasn't with him and hadn't been for almost the entire summer, but he made a fair effort and none of them asked any probing questions like they would have if they suspected something was really wrong with him.

He sipped some Pumpkin juice while staring out the window, admiring the sun reflecting off the plumage of some birds flying by. It was a nice day and Luna had opened the window half an hour ago so they would be able to enjoy the breeze. The grass was very green from a rain spell that had lasted a week before, and it looked like a shining mass of silver and green to Harry. It was soothing and eventually he nodded off, the gentle rocking of the train ensuring that he slept until they arrived at the Castle.

He climbed off, followed by Ted, who wasn't fully awake yet and therefore added some extra weight on Harry's shoulders by leaning on him. An awkward three-legged walk to the carriages later, he was settled in with Hermione Granger and Ronald Weasley. The Gryffindors were obviously nervous about being in the same carriage as the Slytherins, so Harry made sure not to show too much teeth when he smiled at them. Hermione gave a very fake smile back and he noted that she had had her teeth magically shrunk, decreasing her previous resemblance to a beaver considerably. Ron didn't have the courage to even look him in the eye, but Harry knew he was looking when he thought he wasn't paying him any attention. He stroked Ted's hair carefully when the carriage arrived, waking his housemate who looked around groggily, realized that he was putting all of his weight on his room mate, and sat up ramrod straight while apologizing. Harry grinned at him and shook his head, saying in a high-pitched girly voice that he didn't mind at all. Ted swung at him playfully as they walked up towards the gates to catch up with the other students. The Gryffindors made a hasty getaway and Harry shrugged when Ted asked what their problem was.

They sat at their House table after hugging everybody they either knew or thought looked familiar, Harry fiddling with his napkin impatiently. He had slept through noon and didn't eat much at breakfast so he was a little hungry and the Sorting was taking longer than usual because there were a lot of new students this year. Also, Professor Sprout, now replacing their Headmistress in the task of organizing the Sorting, seemed to have problems pronouncing their names and wouldn't let the child be sorted until she was sure that she had gotten it right. Harry normally had nothing against Hufflepuffs, but sometimes….

Finally it was over and the Headmistress stood to make a few announcements and to inform the students that some new Creatures had been spotted in the Forbidden Forest, so students were not to enter the woods without a member of the faculty until they made sufficient peace arrangements with the new inhabitants. Harry resolved to go tonight and introduce himself first thing to create a barrier of courtesy.

The food appeared and he cut off his thoughts until he had filled the gaping pit inside his stomach. At the Head Table two sets of burgundy eyes were steadily fixed on him, teeth glittering whenever they appeared from behind their lips. Jacinthe winked at Sylvi, who had seated herself in the magically concealed rafters of the ceiling, long mannish legs swinging casually as she kept one eye on her Ravenclaw charge and the other on the latest copy of the New York Times. Just because she was a Vampire didn't mean she had lost interest in her native Muggle home. Or the fact that she hadn't been Human in a very long time didn't entail her forgetting what it was like to be mortal.

Her white hair fluttered out from under the hood of her green sweatshirt and she absently stuffed it back inside, glaring at Achille who smirked at her, mouthing, 'Someone needs a haircut'. Ever since her hair had passed her hips he had been nagging her to cut it since he didn't consider it practical. It was none of his business, but she had been intending to cut a lot of it off soon. Maybe she could do that tonight while her charge slept? That is, if her charge slept at all. Now that she thought about it, the young girl's dark circles had to come from something, right? She gnawed on a claw and almost dropped her paper onto the unsuspecting heads of the children far below. Luna, sensing that she was being watched, casually leaned back in her chair and smiled up at the Vampire that she seemed to be able to see despite the evident notice-me-not charm the Creature was using. The albino did not smile back, but rather bared her teeth like a wolf about to devour a tender animal it had caught.

Luna grinned widely and stood up, heading outside to the front doors and sitting out on the steps. A second later she heard a tiny noise and looked over her shoulder to see the Vampire leaning against the wall a few feet away, a newspaper that looked like it had been fished out a muddy puddle tucked neatly under her arm. She raised a colorless eyebrow at the blonde and didn't even blink when the teen tossed a cigarette at her, lighting one up herself and leaning forward to rest her elbows on her knees and prop her face up on one hand while the other guided the stick between her lips and out again as she smoked, staring out over the grounds and towards the rustling branches of the Forest.

A tell-tale cloud of smoke drifting past her let her know that the Vampire was using her gift. Considering her voice, she had probably finished off that pack she'd given her months ago within a few hours.

The sun set completely and Luna finished off her stick of nicotine and headed inside so she could be told the new password for her House. She couldn't see her, but she knew Sylvi was right behind her, probably reading that newspaper.

--

The forest was a little eerie at night, and he sensed right off that there were new waves of magic in it. They didn't look malicious to him, but one could never be absolutely sure. Harry entered slowly, making sure to keep his body language open and friendly even though he was supposedly alone. One never knew who was watching.

He walked for half an hour without encountering anything other than a rabbit, which dashed into its hole as soon as it saw him coming. He ignored it and ventured over to where he felt the waves coming on strongly. They felt…Human?

In the distance he could see the yellow light of a bonfire and he entered the clearing cautiously, blinking when he saw piles of building supplies and scattered tents inside of which he could see tables covered with tools and building plans. There were even some maps pinned to the sides of the cloth tents and he recognized them to be of the forest and surrounding area.

Out of nowhere a heavy hand settled on his shoulder and he turned his head rapidly to meet the steady and friendly gaze of a man who was at least 7 feet tall. There was a scar along one side of his face and his broad shoulders were covered with a light jacket since it was a little cold tonight. Harry smiled back a little nervously, hoping he wasn't in trouble. He didn't mind breaking the rules, but getting caught was a disgrace he had hoped never to experience. There was first (and hopefully last) time for everything.

"Hey, kid, what are you doing out here all by yourself?"

"Oh, um, I was just taking a stroll and I guess I stumbled on you guys. I'll leave now-"

"Going so soon?"

"Ah, well, there's a curfew at my school…"

"I see. You don't want some water or anything before you go?" Harry realized he hadn't had anything to drink since the Feast and his throat was a little dry, so he replied, "Well, if it's not too much of a bother-"

"No bother at all! The boss was hoping that someone from the school would stop by sometime so we could get acquainted. We are the new neighbors, after all." The man's grin was infectious and Harry found himself relaxing completely as he was led over to a large sturdy-looking tent. Outside of it was a bonfire around which multiple men, that looked unusual even for Wizards, were sitting and eating some kind of stew. They waved and smiled at the two of them, not looking disturbed or nervous at all to see a stranger amongst them. This was both good and bad because it meant that they could handle themselves easily in a fight and that they were friendly and didn't want to antagonize him.

Entering the tent, he saw a brunette male busily poring over some maps while drinking coffee like a madman. His guide snickered, alerting the 'boss' to their presence.

"We've got company, and he would like some water, sir."

"Oh, someone came!" The man looked so damn happy about it Harry felt a little intimidated and nervously smiled. "Lovely to meet you! I'm Augustus, and it is a pleasure to meet our neighbors. You are?"

"Uh, Harry Potter. Nice to meet you too, sir."

"Just let me get you that water…." The man stood and disappeared into a different section of the tent, reappearing with a glass of water and waving his wand so a scraggly sofa that looked like cats liked it a lot came into existence in a corner.

"Have a seat, Harry."

He sat and shyly sipped his water, trying not to think about how much more relaxed he would be if Asmodeus were with him. "So…how long have you guys been here and what are you building?"

"Oh, we've been here for a few days now and we're just building a little base. Once we're don, a few people will stay here and the rest of us will go back to where we've come from."

"Base?"

"Yeah…we've got them all over but the one that used to be here hasn't been used in a couple hundred years, much less properly staffed, so we're rebuilding it so this area will be properly protected again."

"Oh!" Harry suddenly realized that they must be from the Observation section of the Ministry, which wasn't a commonly-known faction due to the controversy surrounding their purpose of making that the Wizarding world remained separate and safe from any Muggles who might get it into their heads to mob them. They had first come into existence during the witch hunts and had gradually dwindled once the whole 'kill the demon spawn' mentality of Muggles had waned. He had always wanted to know if they still watched at all, but now it would seem that they did after all.

"I'm very happy to know that we will be safe under your guard." Harry smiled, finishing his water and glancing at a new watch he'd picked up at a thrift store. "I am very sorry, but I have to be getting back before I'm missed. Would it be alright for me to disclose this information to some friends of mine?"

"Of course it's alright. We'd love to meet them too, if you have time." The crazy 'boss' smiled brightly and gestured for the nameless laborer to escort him back to the Castle.

Harry wondered why they were so eager to integrate themselves with the School, but decided that he would have to get some more information on them before forming any theories. He didn't sleep that night, too busy worrying about various things that he knew he would consider inconsequential come morning.

--

End chapter 50

Reviews are appreciated and replied to!

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	51. Chapter 51

CHAPTER 51

The sun hadn't yet peeked over the horizon, the birds were silent, and everybody who was not crazy or working for a sadist was still asleep. In the Slytherin dormitories no one stirred, soft breaths and the occasional snore from an older boy the only noise.

Something was tickling the side of his face. Harry batted at it lazily, turning his face so that it was mostly concealed in the pillow. Whatever it was licked his ear and he felt more than heard a rumbling purr against his cheek. His eyes opened slowly as he became aware that something furry shouldn't be in his bed, much less sitting on his chest. Removing his face from its angle, he blinked away the blurriness in his vision and gasped when Raito playfully flicked his nose with his rough tongue.

"Asmo-"

The weight on his chest was lifted as the Demon shifted into his usual form and rested his elbows on either side of Harry's face before leaning down and cutting him off with a kiss. Harry almost started to respond before jerking his head back and scowling.

"Oh no you don't!" He tried to ignore the flash of hurt in his boyfriend's eyes, "I want an explanation for where you've been, and I want it now. Don't even bother lying to me." His eyes were bright as diamonds and equally as hard. The Demon swallowed and got off of him, sitting cross-legged beside him on the bed.

"Harry…I'm sorry I was gone so long, but I swear it wasn't on purpose; You know how Lucifer is when he thinks something is important or that I'm the only one qualified for one of his little projects. I was not avoiding you or-"

"Were you with him?"

"Lucifer? No but-"

"No, not him. Leviathan." Harry said the name of his unofficial rival softly, praying that his anxiety was for nothing and that the horrible suspicions that had been plaguing his dreams were based only on unreliable paranoia.

Asmodeus blinked, trying to cover the guilty look that had passed over his face a second earlier. "Yeah, we were working on the project together. Why?"

"Just wondering." Harry might not have seen the look on his boyfriend's face, but his voice betrayed him. Maybe he should just be happy that the demon had bothered to come back at all- it wasn't like he had anybody else he was involved with like this or wanted to be, and he knew how lonely it felt to sleep alone.

Plastering a smile on, he turned to face him and tugged on his sleeve lightly, a more playful look entering his eyes. "Okay, okay. Come here…I missed you." He shifted so he rested his back against the headboard, releasing his hold on his sleeve so he could come over beside him. Yellow eyes crinkled at the corners as he smiled and settled beside him, running a finger down one thin arm. His skin had gotten darker over the summer while he had been far away from him, and he wondered if maybe it was because Harry wouldn't spend as much time in his room 'studying' without him there.

Harry wasn't looking at him, just looking straight ahead with a little smile curving his lips. Asmodeus recalled how soft the cheek he had nuzzled to wake him was and tilted his head to rest on his shoulder, almost completely reclining to rub their cheeks together. Harry laughed a little, brushing a hand through his hair and moving some hair that had escaped from his braid behind his ear. He manipulated his Human lungs to purr a little, reaching for one of Harry's hands and stroking it gently. The fingers flexed and then curled around his own, squeezing his in a gesture of sweetness that made his myriad prepared excuses for his infidelity crumble. How could he have ever have been tempted to touch another…and ultimately betray the trust of this part-child who loved him so.

His heart clenched so tightly within his rib cage that he almost thought his body would go into cardiac arrest, but it didn't happen. He remained awake even after Harry drifted back into sleep for the remaining 2 hours before he normally would wake and get ready for classes.

--

"Sylvi, could you hand me that-"

"No." Was the stoic reply, red-hued eyes not even bothering to look up from the 1st-year textbook for Defense Against the Dark Arts. Jacinthe sighed and invaded her fellow-Vampire's personal space to grasp a volume on the bookshelf above her white head.

"Thanks." She said sarcastically, sitting beside her on the velvet sofa.

"I live to serve you, master."

"Oh, I can tell."

"At least you can see the obvious-"

"Girls!" Achille snapped, glaring at the two from his place behind the desk provided for Professors in their private studies. It had intricately carved claws for feet and was said to have been purchased shortly after the Founding of Hogwarts, and it wasn't hard to believe judging from the blackened wood.

"Sorry." Jacinthe didn't sound sorry at all and Sylvi didn't even bother to acknowledge him. He sighed and went back to grading papers, wishing that Eirikr had listened to him when he'd tried o convince him that any period of time in which Jacinthe and Sylvi were together, no matter how short, would result in irritation for everyone else involved. Those two had never been able to put their childish attitude towards one another behind them and it grated on his already irritated nerves. Teaching Defense to groups of underage and belligerent children would no doubt ruin his hair and turn it whiter than Sylvi's (if such a thing was possible) and eventually he would succumb to the stress and become a nervous wreck.

Sylvi would normally be observing the Lovegood girl but was given leave to take a break for an hour by the boss, and the albino was technically supposed to be spending her 'break' observing the Ministry's Observers new base and its progress, and possibly confuse their probes when they slammed against the wall of wards that the Potter boy and his little friend had devised. However, the woman had decided to intrude upon their office and examine their curriculum instead. She had worked her way from the 7th year's books to the firsties and her face was as blank as ever. This was either good or very, very bad.

"Are you satisfied?" he asked when she snapped the volume closed and tossed it onto the side table with the other six.

"Yes. At first I thought the material to be inane and understandable even to an infant, but then I remembered that most of your students are teenagers and it is common knowledge that they are far more fixated on their love triangles and unrequited affections than schoolwork. Its perhaps a little advanced considering that, but I think its good for them to be challenged. Now, if you don't mind-"

"Not at all." Jacinthe interjected, noisily popping her chewing gum.

"As I was saying, if you don't mind, I shall take my leave."

"You are free to do as you like, ma'am." Achille didn't think he could get away with any sort of disrespect after his sharp admonishment a few minutes previous. She seemed to smell his fear and grinned in a truly sinister manner. Soundlessly she about-faced and left the room, her limbs moving in the ordered manner of an old soldier, which was what she was.

He sighed and etched a massive 'Failed' in bright red ink on the essay of an unfortunate Hufflepuff.

--

End chapter 51


	52. Chapter 52

CHAPTER 52

Sylvi seated herself on the first tree branch she considered to be close enough and smirked at the general befuddlement of the Ministry's lackeys as their spy probes impacted with the invisible wall she'd created to counter any intelligence of a very dark anti-observation ward courtesy of Potter and Lovegood.

She took a hefty bite out of her apple, tucking a leg up under herself and swinging the loose one carelessly. Beneath her one of the workers, who was taking a short break, noticed it out of his peripheral vision and looked up, blinking when he saw a very tall and thin woman with absolutely no skin coloring wearing Muggle clothes. Perhaps she was a neglected tourist who had broken through the anti-Muggle wards?

He gave a low whistle that made the ears of his superior perk up as the man slowly and causally left his work alone and came over to stand beside him. In a low voice he asked, "What is it?" he pointed a finger upwards subtly, not realizing that a set of pinkish-red eyes were smirking down at him until his boss inhaled deeply. He risked a look up as well and swallowed when he met her gaze dead-on. Gracefully, she shifted her weight and then dropped the 40 feet to stand in front of them.

"Can I help you gents or are you just looking?" Her voice was husky and she coughed violently after asking, nearly bending double with the force of her heaving. "Sorry about that." She removed a pack of cigarettes from her pocket, asking if anyone had a light now that more workers had abandoned their hapless attempts to break through her Confundus wall. There was a loud rustling as most of the wizards went for their pockets. She took advantage of their moment of distraction to vanish into the thin air.

"Here you go-" the man who got his lighter out first stared at the patch of grass she'd been standing on. "Um, where'd she go?"

There was much murmuring and a brief search of the camp and building to see if she had miraculously wandered off somewhere. Not a sign.

"Well, that was weird."

From the trees behind him Sylvi shook her head and used one of the lighters she'd pick-pocketed to light up. At least this saved her a trip to a petrol station or grocer's to actually buy one legally.

--

Harry sighed, resting his head on his elbows. It was History of Magic, and as much as he loved Goblins, there was only so much detail that can be given before it becomes redundant. He sat up and dug into his bag until he found some gum, wishing he could smoke in class. Unwrapping it, he poppet it into his mouth and turned to acknowledge Blaise who had tugged on his sleeve. 'Can I have some?' he mouthed and Harry nodded, pulling out the container again and passing it to him so he could pick a flavor. He choose a yellow one and handed the paper box back.

Taking vague notes amongst his doodles, his thoughts fled the realms of history and went to his boyfriend and what he was going to do about his unspoken sin. Perhaps he should have expected something like this happening a lot earlier, considering the physical level he had been stuck on due to modesty for so long and Asmodeus' temperament, no matter how suppressed he could make it for Harry's sake.

He blew a bubble with his gum, grinning when it popped. He knew exactly what he was going to do now.

--

The wind ruffled her hair as she snuck out of the Castle, moving swiftly to penetrate the anti-apparatation wards. Something brushed against her leg and she looked down to notice a large snake slithering through the grass and headed in the opposite direction, straight towards the school.

She deliberated, wondering if she should go after it. a snake that size could easily be poisonous or even the type to strangle innocent firsties-

Her mind made up, she sprinted back over to it, casting a caging spell. The snake passed through it but paused to turn its head to eye her. Instead of the characteristic beady black eyes of most snakes, its eyes were a disturbing shade of yellow that glowed slightly in the evening gloom. It backtracked to the dormant caging spell and settled inside, eyes fixed on her.

"You're an animagus, aren't you?" She stated more than asked, sitting down in front of it. It winked, of all things, and shook its scaly head. The jaws opened and a very Human-sounding voice playfully said, "Guess again."

"Um…" Her mind went over all the possible scenarios of a reptile having humanistic traits. "Are you under an enchantment?"

"Not the kind you're thinking of."

"Trapped in an animal's body?"

"No."

"Under Imperio?"

"Absolutely not."

"A ghost in corporeal form?"

It blinked at her and then shook its head.

"Damn."

"Give up?"

She sighed and sat down on the grass wet with dew tiredly. She wished very much for a cigarette, but knew that she had been indulging that too much. "Yeah, okay. What are you?"

"A Demon."

She choked on her own saliva and stopped her thoughts in their tracks when they began flinging all the reasons why this snake couldn't possibly be something that didn't exist. What books said aside, who says that Demons can't exist? And if one assumed that mentality, so did Angels and ultimately an almighty God who created them. She coughed to clear her throat and lifted the spell that she knew had no effect of the alleged Demon.

"Is that your only shape or-" right before her eyes the scales rippled into simple black clothes garbing a man she could tell was tall and wiry, thin but plentiful hair falling into his eyes. He had the look of a troublemaker you didn't want to cross or want to meet when he was in a black mood.

"This is my usual Human form. Have you got a name, hon?"

"I'm Luna."

"Well, its been lovely chatting with you Luna. I'm Mammon, Demon of Avarice and I really need to go visit a colleague of mine before my superior throws one of his delightful little episodes that we affectionately call 'bitch fits'." Luna gave a strangled giggle, Muggle religion giving her a pretty good idea that his 'superior' was Lucifer. She shuddered when he was out of sight, thinking that maybe one more cigarette today wouldn't be so bad.

--

End chapter 52

Haha! The plot thickens and maybe just maybe ya'll can learn what Azzy's been up to all these months! Review for faster and longer updates…

I'm serious.


	53. Chapter 53

CHAPTER 53

Asmodeus was sitting on the opposite end of the bed, trying to look pitiable while the object of his affections steadfastly ignored him in favor of studying for something that would not be due for months. Sighing, he began to braid the tassels on the edge of a throw blanket Pansy had left there last night, fingers moving quickly and deftly to secure the soft woolen strands. Harry wouldn't even look at him, and he supposed he should be grateful that he was allowed to sit on the same piece of furniture- to be surrounded by Harry's scent and belongings, considering what he had done.

He shifted uncomfortably, the edge of the bed closer than he would like. Resting his back against one of the four posts that supported the bed frame, he plucked a string from the frayed quilt and tossed it at Harry. The student craned his neck to meet his gaze and glowered before turning back to his book.

Asmodeus banged his head on the pole he was leaning against, cursing himself for being so twisted around a Human's finger that he was actually feeling guilty (make that _very _guilty) and wouldn't tell him off for treating him like garbage.

Out of sight, Harry smirked. From experience he knew that lack of attention of any kind would make a larger impact than screaming or avoiding him. Crying might have helped too, but he wasn't comfortable doing that around him just yet. In fact, he wanted to appear as rock-like and emotionless as he could stand until Asmodeus apologized properly, in which case he would move to the next step in the punishment and punch where it would really hurt. He turned the page of his text, wishing for a drink.

--

Luna stared between Harry and his cat. Anyone could see that they had had a disagreement of some kind, but one did not usually have that with ones pets, and even when you did, said pet usually didn't mournfully mewl and attempt to make physical contact with its owner. And yet, this was exactly what she had been watching for the past half an hour in which she had arrived to study with him in his dormitory. She would have ask the first of his room mates she ran into after this what had happened.

"So…which category would you place a Vampire's emotional range in?" She held up the chart present in her textbook's built-in test.

"Um, the correct answer is number 3, but personally and outside of schoolwork, I would rank it in the Human option or higher if they had it."

She nodded and filled in the correct answer, reaching into her purse simultaneously and tossing a square chunk of chocolate at Harry. He stared at it and then her, obviously puzzled. Reaching over she flicked his forehead and said, "Its food. You eat it like so-"

He laughed. "I know what it is! I just wasn't expecting that is all." He picked up the treat and bit off a tiny bit, shifting his seating until he could lean comfortably against the headboard. His cat tried to move closer but he hissed at it and the feline retreated, curling into a ball of fur as close as Harry would allow. From the bedframe above their heads Claudia made a strange amused noise through her snout, little puffs of pink-colored smoke coming out of her mouth. Harry flushed and rather quickly selected a book at random to study while Luna rolled her eyes. Of course he would have a bizarre relationship with his pets: he was Harry Potter and this was the sort of thing that happened to Harry Potter.

While she had been lost in her musings, Raito had sneakily begun to move closer to Harry's thigh, managing to get very close indeed before Harry noticed and shooed him away. Deciding that asking Blaise or Draco would be too much of a hassle, Luna asked, "Um, Harry, what did you cat do wrong? You're usually so cuddly it's unnatural."

"He did something very, very bad and I am not sure I will ever forgive him." Even though it wasn't directed at her, the frigidity in his voice made her flinch. She could see that the cat had been equally affected and took a bite of her chocolate before saying, "Now, Harry, what could he have done that would cause this?"

"Can't tell you." He stubbornly replied, trying to go back to reading. She took the book out his hands and stroked one of his fingers soothingly.

"You sure about that?" He looked like he was going to cave so she snagged a second finger and set to work on it. Many nerve ending were in the fingertips and she knew from practice that some causal finger-work could move mountains if used correctly.

"Okay, okay. He was with another master while away from me. I mean, I thought I was the only one in his life even though I knew he had to have an ex-master or two." He directed his words to the white fluff ball that was shaking slightly now, one bright yellow eye the only thing visible to identify it as a living thing.

Something clicked inside her mind and Luna gasped, looking rapidly between the two while her memory showed her countless clips that seemed so very obvious now. "You're his boyfriend!" She shrieked triumphantly, pointing at the cat. Its eye got very wide and it shook its head before realizing that this would just confirm her theory. Grabbing her wand, she cast the revealing spell for Animagi and sighed when nothing happened. Moving closer to the 'familiar', she pet his nose and softly asked for him to reveal himself since she already knew. It looked over at Harry who refused to return his gaze, staring off into space and muttering something under his breath that sounded like a list of all the Pharaohs of Egypt between a certain set of dates. Getting no help from him, he mentally damned the consequences and transformed.

--

The bowels of Hell are hardly a place that can be referred to as pleasant (or cold, for that matter), but it was his to reign over and so he was very happy to return to them at long last. Beside him Mammon rambled something about Vampires and alliances that needed to be sealed with his blood, offering up various elaborate documents that contained longer versions of what he was saying for him to sign.

Lucifer signed them all, fingers that ought to have been red and worn from so many little cuts to sign in blood remaining pale and dexterous. When the day's requirements had been met, he wandered off, Mammon following and snagging some brandy before he could from the glass liquor cabinet that Raphael had filched from an abandoned mansion during the most bloody of the French Revolutions.

Toasting one another to another hard day's (if they had time) work that they really shouldn't be taking a break from; they sat down side-by-side on the plush sofa, each engaged in their own thoughts. Lucifer broke the silence a few minutes later, saying, "Do you know if Asmodeus is still romantically attached to that Human child?"

"I would say no…but I'm not sure. Why?"

"Its just that him and Levi spent an awful amount of time together for a few months and I think we all know by now that those two can't keep their hands to themselves for very long. I just thought that something like that might cause the Human some emotional pain…"

"True, and even though I can tell you are, I am _not _in favor of Asmodeus' infidelity. Sure, if he were involved with one of our own he would be around for more labor and of course company. But he was very happy with the Human and happiness is not something to be taken lightly considering our station."

Lucifer nodded and sipped his brandy, the ice tinkling as it moved about in the liquid. He pressed the cold glass to his forehead when he was done, enjoying the sensation. Mammon shook his head and rose to get another, taking his superior's glass to do him the same. Sometimes he regretted Falling and losing things like unconditional affectionate companionship, but he was at the same time grateful that it had been him, who had never been truly happy in Heaven, than some younger and far more innocent Angel to be assigned his duty.

--

End chapter 53


	54. Chapter 54

A/N: Haha, behold the sordid details of Asmodeus' affair! No this was not a reader request…this was a bored author dying for a change of pace. Hope you all like it enough to review, because I'm the sort of person who Loses All Hope without them. Thank you.

CHAPTER 54

"Hello and nice to meet you properly after all these years; I'm Asmodeus."

Luna accepted his hand with a smile, replying, "I guess you already know who I am. Now, why aren't you drawn and quartered, lying in a valley somewhere with Vultures feasting on your ungrateful flesh?"

"Um…what do you mean?"

"You were unfaithful, yes?"

"Yes-"

She tackled him, removing a razor from nowhere and holding it up to his neck as she managed to pin him to the harsh floor. Harry's eyes held a little concern in them and Asmodeus almost started hoping before he said, "Luna, don't spill any on my books, yeah?"

"Oh! Sure, sorry hon. Should we move him to a closet when I'm done, or do you have a better idea?"

Asmodeus wondered if he should keep his status as 'can't stay dead because I've never been alive' status to her but decided that keeping his mouth shut was the best possible option until this crazy female got bored or sliced this body to ribbons. He rested his head back against the cold floor and stared up at the ceiling, wondering how he could have possibly poisoned his slice of Heaven so terribly and so fast.

--

_He was looking at him again, and it wasn't just the sort of look one could brush off or ignore. It was the self-same look he had given him so very long ago when they'd first met, when the 'chemistry' as Humans would call it came into being. And he wasn't going to stop looking for this entire demented camping trip and he would just have to cross his legs and bear it. _

_Lucifer waved a hand in front of his face, displeased with his wandering attention but quickly getting over it to ramble yet more instructions and rules at him. _

"_Sir, could I possibly take one hour on weekends off?" he had tried petitioning for the whole weekend but he just couldn't be spared for that long so he had to compromise and hope that Harry didn't kill him when he finally got back for good after a very long absence. _

"_No, Asmodeus, you should know by now that I just cannot spare you for anything else…the work you are doing is very important as you should know full well by now from my lecturing. I would appreciate it if you would start aforesaid labor and stop asking me stupid questions now."_

"_But-"_

"_NO BUTS!" Lucifer shrieked, voice raising several octaves and sounding very girlish indeed. Everyone froze, even leviathan, the one sending him the 'I want to eat you' telepathic messages. Lucifer flushed and shouted for them to get back to work and Asmodeus snickered, walking off into the sacred library to organize the books that couldn't be touched by lower-level Demons. _

_It was a few minutes later that he sensed someone else in the library. Calling out to whoever it was to please get him some tea, he did not look up from his work until a steaming mug was gently set on a bit of spare space on the shelf beside him. _

"_Thanks."_

"_You're welcome." _

_He froze mid-sip, eyes moving to goggle at Levi who smiled sweetly before sitting beside him and stacking his organized piles and setting off to put them in the appropriate shelves. He growled. So help him if Lucifer was trying to set them up, knowing how he felt about Harry. _

_--_

_It was two months after he'd been summoned and he was very proud of himself for holding out this long. Levi was beside him every day and most of the night, helping him do the work and fetching him things when he trusted himself to speak to the blonde. _

_So far he had kept his hands to himself despite the Demon's best attempts to break his resolve. _

_Levi re-entered his cluttered work alcove, handing him a volume that couldn't be placed on the shelves until its wards were altered or the spirit living inside given a briefing of why he was now to be in close proximity with other books, some that contained spirits such as itself and some containing far worse. _

_Their hands brushed and he scowled, yanking the book away and turning back to his work but not before catching the confused look on Levi's face. Perhaps the blonde really didn't know the effect he had on him and he was just paranoid. Probably paranoid now that he thought about it. why on earth would his long-ex boyfriend be trying to seduce him when he knew that he was in love with Harry? Or at least he was pretty sure Levi knew how he felt about a certain petite Human. _

_--_

_He bit his nails, sitting out in the cold as he waited for whoever was in the bathing tent to finish up already so he could get cleaned up and pass out for a few hours before his services were needed again. He wished he was allowed to go to earth for his sleeping hours, because then he could sleep beside Harry and pretend that the tingling he felt in his fingers and toes and the fluttering of his heart whenever Leviathan got too close didn't exist. He was sure that he was just projecting his love for Harry onto his ex: it was the only explanation since he had ceased to care for the blonde many centuries before. _

_He was almost completely sure Levi was over him too. One never really knew what was hiding behind those yellow eyes though, and it had been one of the main things that had attracted him to-_

_He pinched himself. Thinking about why he had wanted the other Demon so much at first was not a good idea when he was already in a relationship and quite a happy one at that, even though he hadn't taken the final step in making the Human his just yet. It would be better when Harry was ready, but it didn't stop him from being a little impatient sometimes. A warm shower for once would be nice, you know. _

_The flap to the tent stirred as whoever was inside prepared to leave. "Finally." He grinned, stepping back a little so they could get by. The flap opened and Levi exited, stopping and staring when he found himself nose-to-nose with the first one who had ever melted his frozen heart when he had still been an icy-eyed Angel. _

"_Well, good evening, Asmodeus; my apologies for taking so long. I didn't know anyone was out here waiting. I'll just go back to my tent now." Neither of them could convince their legs to move, remaining ridiculously close for several moments of awkward silence. Keeping his eyes open and fixed on the other, Levi tilted his head up and moved until their mouths were aligned and lips brushed with each breath. If Asmodeus still wanted him he would kiss him back, right? God once said that it was not good for Man to be alone, but the same applied to all of his thinking creations. _

_Asmodeus dropped his towel and grabbed the back of his head to move them as close together as their current forms allowed. All thought of Harry fled from his mind. _

_--_

_Waking up in a tent that was not his, on a bed far softer than the one Lucifer had allotted him, he looked around in confusion before what he had done last night came rushing back to him. His muscles which had been relaxed completely for the first time in years tensed back up again as he identified the sated feeling he was basking in a moment ago. _

_The sheets rustled as Levi stirred, a hand brushing against his side by accident before the blonde settled again. He ran a hand through his hair and pulled as hard as he could, knowing that the dull ache in his skull was nothing compared to what Harry would feel when he found out- His thoughts back-tracked. Who said Harry had to know about this if it would only hurt him? But then he remembered one of his best qualities, the one that could always surprise him with its many facets: Harry's intelligence. He would notice immediately that something was off and then-_

_Then he might say that he never wanted to see him again and he would wallow until the Beast leapt forth once more and devoured the earth and all that rests in it. Resting his head against the pillow for a moment, he despaired at his own weakness. Why didn't he realize last night that whatever satisfaction he would get from Leviathan's body was nothing compared to the peace Harry's love provided him? He had just soiled something pure indirectly and he had never felt more ashamed. _

_A finger lightly touched one of the bumps of his spine. It stroked the skin and he could feel Leviathan's breath as the younger Demon moved closer, wrapping one of his arms around his waist in an embrace that, although physically innocent, was anything but considering the situation. Asmodeus pulled away gently, turning so he could face his ex-lover. There was a soft smile on the other's lips and his heart cracked when he thought about how much he was about to say would hurt this person. Sure, Levi had hardly been the greatest or even the most faithful of his lovers, but he knew that the other had genuinely loved him…and from what he had seen last night, always had. _

"_Lev-"_

"_Yes?" He purred, moving closer so he could bump their noses together. Asmodeus' breath hitched when he remembered that Harry liked to do that when he was feeling 'frisky'. Why did he get himself into these situations?!_

"_Um, you know that this can't happen again, right?" _

_Levi withdrew as if burned. His eyes were gleaming in the faint rays of light coming in through the seams of the tent, highlighting that he probably about to cry. "Oh God, I should have known!"_

"_Known what?"_

"_What am I to you? Some sort of conquest, a filler until you get back to your Human whore?!" Leviathan leapt to his feet on the rug provided with the tent, not seeming to care that he was stark naked and that this would look very bad if someone were to barge in without knocking. _

"_Levi, baby, please understand-"_

"_Don't you talk to me like that! Like you give a damn about me...like I am anything other than a piece of ass to you!"_

"_Will you just let me expla-"_

"_No! You obviously care far more about that…that Human than me, and I never should have wasted a moment pining after you like I did. You're not worth it; I can see that clearly now."_

_Asmodeus got out of bed, coming over to stand in front of him. He stretched out his hand to touch his arm but it was slapped away. "Please just let me-"_

"_Go." _

"_What?"_

"_I said go, and I want you to leave now before I do something I'll regret." Leviathan's voice was very soft and Asmodeus knew at once that the Demon wasn't talking about violence. He had his head lowered, staring at the floor, but he could clearly see that that was just to try and hide that the threatening flood in his eyes had broken loose. His sharp ears picked up each soft 'plop' noise as a drop of salty water hit the carpet while he dressed as hurriedly as he could. _

_Just before leaving he got as close as he could without the blonde recoiling and whispered, "I'm sorry."_

_The other didn't reply, standing still as a statue. Asmodeus made sure to open the tent flap in a certain way that no one passing by would get flashed a view of the Demon and headed to his work station, moving at a lightning speed to complete as much as he was able. Leviathan didn't show up at all that day to help. _

_Needless to say, when the blonde did grace him with his company, neither of them spoke or even looked at each other if they could help it. The low-ranking minions assigned to do the grunt work were confused but accepted that whatever happened in the personal lives of their superiors had nothing to do with them if it didn't affect their labor. _

_Each day as he got closer to finishing the work a pit of dread blossomed larger in the pit of Asmodeus' stomach. Normally he would be practically bouncing off the walls with anticipation to go see his beloved but now all he could feel was shame for betraying him like he had. _

_--_

Sylvi stared off into space as Luna sat beside her on the mossy bank they had found by a filthy creek in the Forbidden Forest. The Human was making necklaces and crowns out of the strange little flowers that she knew for a fact were poisonous and then braiding all of her creations together into thicker versions of the separate parts. She had been amusing herself in this manner for several hours now and it was getting dark.

Sylvi had smoked an entire pack of cigarettes and destroyed six wreaths for the hell of it when the Human wasn't looking. She was still a little damp from when Luna had pushed her into the Creek as punishment for catching her red-handed destroying number 7.

"God, are you done yet? I am so bored that if some dude came by selling imitation tarot cards I would buy the whole set just to have something to fucking _do."_

The Human had the insolence to not only ignore her but to start humming.

--

End chapter 54

Review! Or I'll die and Ariaeris will turn me into a robot (sobs)


	55. Chapter 55

CHAPTER 55

Harry's back rose and fell gently as he breathed, fast asleep in bed. Alone. Asmodeus lay on the hard floor in the body of a beetle so Harry's dorm mates wouldn't notice him, mind moving a mile-a-minute trying to come up with a decent scheme to win him back. However, the fact that Harry had spontaneously decided to sleep naked was very distracting and he really didn't think he'd ever be able to concentrate again.

Harry stirred a little in his sleep and he forced his wings to unfold so he could hover over him and make sure that he wasn't having a nightmare and-

The sheets had slipped a little bit and Harry's habit of sleeping with one foot hanging over the side of the bed so he wouldn't get too hot had resulted in the sheets situating themselves over just one half of Harry. He dimly wondered where the faint bruise on Harry's lower back had come from, his thoughts remarkably hazy. Without thinking he transformed into a Human, eyes still fixed on the rather nice skin of his boyfriend's back.

Just as he was getting used to see this much of Harry after months of being away, he shifted and the sheet slipped further. Asmodeus dropped to the floor and transformed as fast as he could, hoping against hope that his latest problem would just go away if he made a conscious effort not to think about it. No such luck. Transforming back and getting under the bed a little so no one would see him, he groaned and ran a hand tiredly through his hair. He really didn't need this right now, not when he was trying to berate himself for doing something as horrible as cheating on an innocent minor, despite said minor being anything but innocent. As far as he knew, his virginity was the only thing still untouched about him.

--

The next afternoon in class while Harry was staring off into space whilst Professor McGonagall lectured on the reason why being able to convert a wooden table into a stone one was important for Potion-making, he felt something tug his hair in the bag. Reaching back casually and making it look like he had a back ache, he felt through his hair until his fingers closed around something small and hard. It felt like metal.

He worked his fingers through the curl it was attached to until he got it loose, lowered his hand, and then looked at it under the shelter of his desk. It was a dragonfly made out of pieces of emerald, sapphire and amethyst held together with melted silver wire. It was very beautiful and could be fastened onto things with a bit of wire and a sharp pin connected to the back. He turned it over in his hand a few time, admiring the way the light reflected off of the stones and blended the colors so well that if he hadn't known better he would have said it was alive. He pocketed it, wondering who had given it to him and how it had gotten into his hair. He peered carefully back over his shoulder but there was nothing but the wall of the rear of the classroom since he was sitting in the back today so Draco and Pansy could hog the front row and flaunt their young love in front of the disapproving Head of Gryffindor House.

--

More gifts turned up as the day went on and the next day he woke up to find a small packet of Unicorn Hairs that he had been trying to get his hands on for a project beside him on the pillow. Asmodeus was nowhere to be seen these days, except occasionally slinking up to him as close as he was allowed and mewing pathetically.

At lunch he almost cracked his teeth on a new bauble that had somehow been secreted into his soup. This one was a ring set with a semi-precious stone he didn't know the name of, but he didn't mind because it was a rather nice ring. Checking it for spellwork of any kind as he had with the previous gift, he slipped it on his ring finger and sipped some juice, carefully moving his spoon through his soup in case there was anything else in it. Swallowing something like this would hardly be pleasant.

Jacinthe grinned, having been the only one to notice a large white cat sneakily place the ring in Potter's soup right before he took a bite. She had been aware that inside the cat was a consciousness far above that of a mere animal, but this just confirmed that whoever it was intended to get itself back into the good graces of its master. She elbowed Achille, directing his gaze to the ring and whispering to him what she had seen. They resolved to corner the cat at their earliest chance.

Harry ate on, oblivious to the cat sitting under the table watching him mournfully.

--

After a full week of receiving mysterious gifts, he headed off to Hogsmeade with a group of friends just intending to shop around a little bit. He found an excuse to separate himself from the rest of them, intending to look around and see if maybe some of the stuff he had gotten had been purchased here which would let him know whether it was a student or not who was sending him stuff.

Passing by a florist's, a young man came sprinting out wearing gloves stained with dirt, obviously being employed at the establishment. He accosted Harry and asked him what his name was. When he replied that it was Harry Potter, he received an anonymous bouquet of roses.

He sneezed and cursed when he remembered that he was allergic to them.

--

John tapped the desk with one finger, humming a little. For once he had finished all of his paperwork and not had the stacks immediately replaced with larger ones.

Propping his feet up, he wondered what his assistant was doing and whether or not she needed any help. Thanks to a stressful job he couldn't remain idle for very long unless he was completely exhausted or in the company of a certain angel named Rael.

Entering her office he found it empty. Her purse was still there so he thought that maybe she was in the powder room, but a quick knock revealed that that was also empty.

"Huh." Usually she would tell him where she was going in case there was an emergency. Shrugging, he went back into his office and saw that a note had been left there during his brief absence. It said:

"Gone to do an errand; I will be back this Monday."

He sighed and wondered if he would remember how to get home without her.

--

End chapter 55


	56. Chapter 56

CHAPTER 56

Harry twisted his arm into the sheets of his bed, bending it so the fabric constricted around his skin and veins tightly. It stung and he gradually released the muscles so the sheets went slack before repeating his earlier action, developing a ring of red irritated skin after several more times.

He was depressed. Today he had tried and failed to get out of bed repeatedly, feeling absolutely no desire to leave the cocoon of blankets that covered his nakedness from any straying eyes. Eventually he had been forced to send word that he was sick, and had slept most of the morning, fitful dreams and even a few nightmares making him sweat and wish he had the strength to attend classes. He didn't eat the food the house elves brought him and now, hours after it had been given to him, it smelled something terrible.

Any minute now his room mates would come back from dinner and try to see what was wrong with him. He'd managed to convince them that he had a fever by abusing a heating charm earlier, but it had been faint and so it should be gone now according to normal medical standards.

"Fuck this…" He hissed it, glaring at his bed hangings. This was all Asmodeus' fault, and he was tired of waiting for him to apologize. If he thought he was going to forgive him just because he gave him some trinkets (he'd caught him putting a book under his pillow yesterday afternoon and almost kissed him before he'd remembered why his boyfriend would be doing such a thing), no matter how sparkly or useful. Even though he'd been searching for that book for two years, even though-

He flung the covers off of himself, grabbed a robe, covered up, and went into the showers to try and scrub his frustration away. He didn't know how to feel anymore and it was driving him nuts. Every time he looked at Asmodeus he felt something different and it was not something he enjoyed…his emotions normally remained fairly regulated, so this new rollercoaster-like experience was unfamiliar and the last thing he needed right now was unfamiliarity.

He'd been staring at the scalding water as it swirled down the drain mixed with suds from his hair without seeing it as he rubbed his flannel cloth fiercely over his skin for so long that at first he didn't even register the new pinkish shade to the water until it darkened drastically and a faint stinging sensation started in his right arm, which he had been cleansing. The force of his 'cleaning' had rubbed several layers of skin off and the flesh was raw and pink with flecks of bright red welling up and rolling off under the force of the shower head's spray. The pain didn't kick in like he expected it to, and he opted to ignore his new injury until he was done in here.

The similar raw marks on his lower back, calves, and wrists remained unnoticed.

--

He itched at the sores on his arm and wrists, fidgeting in his seat. He had actually crawled out of bed in time the next day after collapsing into bed once the even the cold water had run out and his fingers were more wrinkled than smooth from too much water exposure. Daphne eyed him oddly, reaching over their potion's station and tugging back the cuff of his uniform which he had been rubbing agitatedly in an effort to scratch his injury. Her eyes widened when she saw his affliction and she stroked it gently with her fingertips throughout the rest of the lecture, careful to avoid the sticky sections that hadn't had a chance to scab over yet. The itching faded under her ministrations, carefully concealed under the table, and he gave her a brief hug as they parted ways after the class, she to go to Divination and he to the Greenhouses for Herbology.

He flinched when he saw the outline of the Demon lurking in the shadows of an alcove and took the long way to class, even though it would make him late and his grades for that class really couldn't afford the blow. He found that he no longer cared what the Professors thought of him, not even those suspicious Vampires in the DADA classroom who stared at him whenever they were in the same room, and perhaps even when they weren't. The older a Vampire got, the stronger, or so the textbooks stressed.

He didn't care much about that either. All he seemed capable of caring about was being alone to sort out what he was going to do with Asmodeus, and everyone he knew seemed hell-bent on preventing that at any cost.

--

Two weeks drifted by, and Harry's grades only stayed up because he had developed the habit of doing his assignments far ahead of time so he could concentrate on the random quizzes or tests. He frequently saw Asmodeus out of the corner of his eye during the day, but the Demon never tried to get near his bed or even inside his dormitory unless one of his house mates tried to be helpful and return the cat to Harry.

"This has got to end." He muttered resolutely, digging his fingertips into his palms to help steel his resolve. He got off his bed, leaving his half-finished and doodled-on homework where it was even though he would probably kick himself for that later. The halls were nearly empty since it was dinner hour, and they were colder than usual without the body heat from other people in the air.

Shivering in his thin shirt, he paced through the Castle, looking high and low for Asmodeus so he could give him a piece of his mind.

Stopping to get his breath back and rest his legs, he sat down in an alcove with a window, eyeing the yellowed but damp grass of late autumn and leaf-less trees morosely. He found it strangely fitting that nature was dying the same time his heart was.

--

Half an hour later he heard someone behind him and whipped around quickly to catch Asmodeus in the middle of concealing himself behind a large Chinese vase. He put his hands on his hips and applied pressure so the cuts his fingernails had made earlier would open up and ground him in the reality of the situation. He managed not to laugh and even frowned. He knew this was going to be hard, but it was what would be best for the both of them.

"Asmodeus, we need to talk." The demon's face lit up and he nodded eagerly, moving closer until Harry took a step back, establishing a touch-free discussion. "We…I…this isn't working."

"Wha-"

"Please let me finish, or else I'll never say what I need to." Once the other nodded, he continued, "This relationship that we've had has been violated, and I think it's only fair to all parties, including the one with whom you copulated, that we part ways." He bowed his head, doing his damnedest to block out his mind's helpful but very depressing images of what life without Asmodeus was going to be like.

"Oh, Harry, I'm so sorry-"

"No, I'm sorry. But I'm not the one who should be. You can do whatever you want with Leviathan now, and I would appreciate it if I didn't see you around unless you have a legitimate reason."

"Harry, please don't do this. What am I supposed to do without you?"

Harry shrugged. "I don't really care. What did you do before you met me?"

"Was absolutely miserable and that didn't change until I saw you for the first time. I love you so much, and I hope you know that."

"Is sharing your 'love' with whomever you please part of what you consider a relationship?" Harry snapped, not even bothering to look at the other. This was unfortunate, as he missed the heartbroken and deeply ashamed expression that crossed the other's face.

"Harry, that was a horrible mistake and it will never, ever happen again."

"Asmodeus, didn't you stop and think that the fact that it happened at all is a sign of something a little more pressing than a desire for physical relations?" He refused to say 'sex' in regards to what he had done. "Or maybe that you haven't bothered to apologize to me properly is an even worse sign?!"

"I…"

"Exactly. You; it seems to be the only thing on your mind, so I'm not going to bother staying with someone who only thinks of themselves and not at all about any hapless partner they may have. Did you think I would just let something this serious go? God, you drive me crazy sometimes!" He almost screamed the last line, feeling utterly drained afterwards.

"Harry…" He tried to touch his shoulder but Harry hissed, "Go away." When he didn't move, he shoved him away with one palm flat against his chest, unaware of the wet red spots he was leaving on the fabric for the other to discover later. "I said go away! Is there another meaning in that that I don't know about? Just leave fucking leave already!"

Refusing to stay there any longer even though his whole body felt like lead, he sprinted away. He passed a few of his friends on the way back to his dormitory but didn't acknowledge their called greetings. He was going to be alone right now no matter what anyone else had to say about it.

Alone in the hallway that his now ex-boyfriend had said his parting words in, Asmodeus felt overwhelmed and almost frightened. He had never expected this to happen, a part of him thinking that in another week or so his darling would miss him and take him back and they could be forever together, no matter what anyone else thought about it. feeling the knees of his Human body weakening, he leaned against the wall until they forced him to sink to the floor in shock.

He was never going to wake up beside a tuft of black hair protruding from a cocoon of blankets, never get smacked playfully on the nose for harassing him while he studied, and never again-

His breath hitched when it dawned on him that he would never be able to so much as _touch, _much less kiss, the teenager. And if the boy had his way, he would never see him again.

"Goddammit!"

--

End chapter 56


	57. Chapter 57

CHAPTER 57

It was a long time before he was able to move from the floor, and the frail body he inhabited (he sometimes wondered about what had become of the original owner) had gone numb in some areas from the cold autumn night and sitting in an awkward position for hours on end.

Struggling to stand, knowing that the Prefects and whoever else prowled the night would be along any minute and not knowing if he could muster the energy to cast any kind of concealing spell, he made his way unsteadily down the hall towards a closet, leaning heavily on the wall and wondering why his throat felt so tight and his mouth so dry. Reaching it, he opened the door and climbed inside since it was more of a cupboard that had once contained cleaning supplies or something but had been abandoned for the larger, newer additions. This was where he had been sleeping for the past nearly three weeks since Harry no longer permitted him to be in his company at certain proximity. He had to hand it to him though- he knew himself well enough to understand that if he had been able to touch him, he might cave in and forgive him.

Curling into the pile of old blankets too threadbare for the students but not quite enough to be thrown away just yet, he stared at the shiny old wood of the closet, wishing that he was somewhere else entirely, and most definitely not alone.

He didn't sleep, but his eyes unfocused and his entire body went boneless as he drifted into memories of when he was loved unconditionally and selflessly. Tomorrow he would need to decide where he was going to go, because Harry would be most displeased if he overstayed his welcome.

--

Classes seemed duller than ever, but Harry was beginning to perk up at last, much to the relief of everyone who had been anxiously watching him for the past month. It was now November, and he was scribbling notes down in astronomy, hoping to get his grades back up to where they had been before his depression had made any sort of real studying impossible. Now he had learned to thrust all his energy into his schoolwork until he fell asleep at night exhausted and was only able to dream of facts and lists and so many goddamn numbers.

His pencil snapped in half from holding it too tightly and pressing down too hard on his cheap Muggle paper. Sighing, he reached down and into his bag, memorizing what the professor was saying so he could write it down.

There were no more pencils in his bag and he almost groaned when he remembered that the one he had just broken was his last one in the packet he had bought. Fishing around for tape instead, he repaired the pencil silently and got back to work, not noticing the barely concealed stare someone from the other side of the room had fixed on him.

--

Sylvi plopped down beside Luna well within the Forbidden Forest where she watching the Ministry Watchers pack up, convinced that they had the wrong location due to a complex Confundus charm that no Human could have possibly cast. Sylvi was rather proud of herself, but she was always proud of herself so there wasn't much difference.

Luna leaned her head impudently on her shoulder, popping her gum and staring off at a point far in the distance. Over their heads the skin was dark and grey as it usually was these nights, and a late flock of birds flying south cawed loudly as they flew over their heads.

It was very peaceful, and she relished the utter lack of insects.

Sylvi shifted uncomfortably, her white jeans reflecting the meager light of the rising moon.

"What's the matter?" Luna asked in between blowing bubbles with her yellow chewing gum.

"My ass itches." Luna had gotten used to the Vampire's brusque and often rude way of expressing herself so she merely nodded and shifted herself to the side so the albino could stand and scratch whatever it was she needed to scratch.

"Done!" She plopped down again and causally slung an arm around Luna's shoulders, relaxing against the boulder they were leaning on. "Hey, did I tell you how I got turned?"

"No…I asked you once and you told me to 'shut my mouth and never ask questions'."

"Oh."

--

End chapter 57

Sorry its short today.


	58. Chapter 58

A/N: does anyone have a problem with Dean x Harry? If so, let me know and quickly please before I finish my thought trains.

CHAPTER 58

White clouds moved slowly across the sky, contrasting with the dark grey behind them that managed to make everything else colorless. Harry noted all of this from the Great Hall's ceiling while he was supposed to be eating. The progress he'd made with consistently consuming as much food as he was supposed to had receded ever since that thing with Asmodeus (he could think about him now without too much emotional distress), and it was showing. He barely had the energy to walk to classes these days, but made sure that his grades were still near the top of the class so he wouldn't draw un-due attention from teachers.

The Vampires had been quiet ever since his break-up, looking a little sad when he caught them watching him, and had denied it when he confronted them on a day during which he'd 'woken up on the wrong side of the bed', although perhaps the 'wrong bed' might have been closer since he had apparently had too much to drink and had ended up in a massive pile-up on Gregory's bed, his face mashed into Draco's bony ribs.

He had somehow twisted his ankle during that debacle and since he couldn't bring himself to eat more than lettuce, soup, and sometimes toast or treacle tart, it was taking a while longer than it ought to heal.

Finishing his coffee, he stood up and asked, "Anyone else going to the lake?"

Draco paused in the act of force-feeding cake to Blaise to shake his head, Crabbe and Goyle doing the same since they were too busy taking pictures of Blaise's 'no sugar' fast being ruined. Pansy might as well have been glued to Draco's hip, so she wasn't going either and the rest of the girls were too busy getting ready for some Quidditch game in a few hours.

He shrugged, almost happy that he was going by himself. He needed to unwind and to debate whether or no he wanted to go to yet another Quidditch game between Ravenclaw and Gryffindor. It was almost amusing to watch, though, now that the Beater Ron Weasley was dating the Seeker Cho Chang. Finding a thick root protruding from a nearly-naked tree close enough to the lake for easy bread roll-tossing to the Squid but not close enough to get splashed, he opened the paper bag the House Elves had stored the stale bread in for him.

In a smooth motion he threw one far over the dark waves, grinning when a pink tentacle snapped out and grabbed it out of the air.

--

He had been peacefully sketching the cloud that looked disturbingly like his Head of House having a bad hair day when the Slytherin had wandered over to the base of the tree he was perched in, sitting on a root since the ground was more of a marsh after all the rain they got these days.

Should he approach him or no? After careful observation for the past month, he had deduced that he wasn't romantically involved either long-distance or locally, and wasn't prejudiced by House rivalries when it came to making friends. So…why couldn't he make his muscles move so he could approach him?!

Mentally glaring at his shy side, he spared a moment to wonder how he had gotten into the Lion's House in the first place.

Contenting himself with merely watching now that his body had made it quite clear that it wouldn't be moving out of the tree's comfortable embrace any time soon, he absently twirled his sketching pencil around in circles. As he watched, Harry's back stiffened slowly and he gradually turned his head until he could look out of the corner of his eye at whoever was in the tree. He waved enthusiastically once he was sure he had spotted him, although his robes helped him blend in with the bark and grey sky pretty well, a stupid grin on his face. Harry blinked and then smiled hesitantly, fingers wiggling back.

"Aren't you cold?" Damn. He hoped he didn't sound stupid or like an old lady asking him that, but he couldn't help it! He was so nervous, and that had been the first thing out of his mouth.

Harry smiled up at him after tossing another piece of bread out to the greedy Squid, replying, "Only a little…it was too much bother to go get a thicker jacket." That was another thing he had wondered about. Most Slytherins were Purebloods and did their best to emphasize this by only wearing clothes that were definitely Wizarding, noses in the air and whatever. He knew that they couldn't really be huge snobs since Harry seemed to like them, but he could never be sure where he stood with them and that was the same feeling that had created so much enmity between his peers and the Green House.

"Holy Shi-!" something that was definitely not a Squid had suddenly surfaced and snatched the bread roll away from the waving pink tentacle before disappearing back under the cold water.

"Did you see that?!" Harry shakily nodded. They were silent a moment before he quietly asked, "What do you think it was?"

"Looked like a giant scaly thing, so it was probably a reptile of some kind." Not that he was an expert on Magical Creatures or anything. In fact, he was failing that class rather miserably, but he didn't want to look stupid in front of Harry, even if he was probably botching it as it was.

"Yeah, it looked like a snake to me too."

"Do…do you think we should tell anyone about this?" One thing was for sure was that he was _never _swimming in the Lake again.

"Nah, I wouldn't worry about it. It's not like it looked dangerous or anything." Somehow Dean got the feeling that Harry knew more about the scary snake-thing than he was letting on. Before he could stop himself, he asked, "But don't you think, judging by the sheer size of the thing, that it could do a fair bit of damage if it got the idea into its head?"

"Sure, but I highly doubt she would do something. She's a good girl and prefers the warmer areas of the Lake anyway, all of which are very close to the bottom. The lake is rather deep, you know." Apparently Harry had given up on looking ignorant of what it was.

"Well, can you tell me what she is?"

"She's a Basilisk I released from the dungeons a couple years back. Her name is Hedwig, and she doesn't enjoy Human flesh last I checked. If you do run into her again while in the Lake and she gets real close, it just means that she smells you or wants to play. And I wouldn't worry about getting hurt around her- she's a mothering soul and would rather gauge her own eyes out than hurt one of my kind."

"Oh." He considered asking how the hell he would know whether a snake was 'mothering' or not, but decided not to. Harry shifted into a standing position after disposing of the bread, stretching out a hand to grasp one of the low-hanging branches and swinging himself up with some difficulty to sit across him.

"It's warmer in here." He said by way of explanation, gesturing to the warming bubble that the Gryffindor had cast when the wind picked up. they should be getting to the Quidditch Pitch soon if they still wanted to catch the game, but Dean wasn't about to take his first real conversation with Harry for granted.

"So…you're Thomas, right?" He had extended his hand to shake. Knowing that he was probably violating some sacred Gryffindor rule, he shook it with a smile. "Yep, and you're Potter."

""So…you're Thomas, right?" He had extended his hand to shake. Knowing that he was probably violating some sacred Gryffindor rule, he shook it with a smile. "Yep, and you're Potter."

"Yes. Do you make a habit of talking to Slytherins?"

"Haha! No, eh heh, not really. You're the first I haven't insulted on sight, to tell the truth."

"Oh dear…I hope I won't get you in trouble with your friends, but do you want to go get something to eat with me? I'm actually hungry right now and all of my friends have biffed off to watch Quidditch."

"Um, sure. Yeah, okay. Just let me pack up my stuff." He was self-conscious about his artwork so he tried to conceal the cover of his artbook but Harry spotted it anyway and asked, "Do you draw?"

Dean blushed. "Er, yeah… a little. But I'm not very good!"

"I'll bet you're better than me. Even my doodles look like shit." He laughed and let himself out of the tree, followed closely by the still-blushing Dean.

"they can't be that bad!"

"Oh, trust me, they are."

--

When Draco wandered into the kitchen to get some pumpkin juice for the Quidditch party an hour after it had started, he found Harry sitting on the floor of the pantry talking to Dean Thomas, actually eating cake. Cake! Last he had checked, his friend's 'delicate' innards couldn't handle cake these days. Even though Dean was Gryff, he was willing to overlook that if it would get Harry to goddamn eat something once in a while.

Harry waved at him, scattering cake crumbs, and he grinned back, unable to do the same since his hands were full. "Hey Harry! You're missing the all the fun."

"I'm sure I am. Who won?"

"The Ravenclaws for once. We were all shocked when it happened, since, although Gryffindor doesn't have the best team and never really has, the Ravenclaws haven't won a game in years against them. That Chang girl is _fast."_

"Really?"

"Yeah! She caught the Snitch after, like, half a bleeding hour and you could barely see her as anything other than a blur while she was looking for it."

"Damn…too bad I missed it."

Draco snickered. "Oh please, I know you don't care for Quidditch. No need to pretend with me, you liar."

"Nothing gets past you, does it?"

"Oh shush your mouth. I've got to go now, before they send someone down here to nag me. See you later, okay?"

"'kay."

When he disappeared out the door/portrait, Dean said, "He seemed…nice."

"He is. A bit of a worrywart, but besides that he is quite nice to be around. You sound surprised."

"Well, the general consensus about him is that he's a rich wanker and a right bastard by the Weasley's standards."

Harry just laughed, choosing not to enlighten him with the information that the Weasleys had been the ones to initiate all of the little tiffs between the Malfoys and themselves.

--

End chapter 58

Review! Or I'll die!


	59. Chapter 59

CHAPTER 59

Dean had to shove through several confused green-robed girls before he managed to seat himself beside Harry in Herbology so they could partner for the day, and event then he caught the Greengrass girl leaning over Parkinson to mouth 'what's he doing here?' and by 'here', meaning the Slytherin side of the table that had never been originally intended as a divider between Houses but became so through the pettiness of children and their grudges.

Harry had shrugged in reply and continued taking notes on the plant's sun care and feeding needs. Their assignment was to take this cactus-like thing and train it to grow in a circular manner, which would teach them how to communicate and mold a partially-sentient organism.

Dean still didn't see the point and told Harry so, earning a laugh in reply and a shake of the head.

"So…see you later?" class was over and he needed to get to Divination soon, but wanted to make sure that his tentative friendship with Harry would continue.

"Yeah, of course. Why don't you sit with me at lunch?"

"Uh…"

"Come on, my friends don't bite!"

"Mine do."

Harry's face fell. "Oh." He hurried to placate him. "But don't worry, I'm still gonna sit with you!"

"If your friends are going to make a stink about it, maybe it's not the best idea-"

"I'm sitting with you, and that's final." Dean grinned and then dashed off to Divination, hoping that the bizarre professor wouldn't keep him after class to help her organize her incense by expiration date.

"Well….Dean Thomas, huh?" There was a knowing glint in Pansy's eyes and Harry flushed when he realized what she was implying. It would seem that his consistent lack of a girlfriend had tipped her off to his orientation, and now he was never going to live this one down.

"Shut up."

"No, shant; so how long have you two been dating?" She waggled her eyebrows and he got the feeling that she wasn't referring to dinner and a movie.

"Didn't I tell you to shut up?" he hissed, face feeling like it was on fire. From his other side Draco snickered, steering him with an arm around his shoulders into Ancient Runes.

"Oh Harry, Harry, you know as well as we do that you are never going to live this down. Not while we've breath in our bodies, you know."

"I don't see what you're insinuating, since I didn't even flirt with him!"

"Oh, you mean that you didn't notice those little looks you were giving him?" Pansy inserted, flipping her lengthening hair over her shoulder in such a fake gesture that he grinned, tugging on it to irritate her.

"Stop." She whined. "I just curled it, damn it!"

--

Lucifer tapped his desk, glaring at the stack of Human files spread out across it in a much disorganized manner. He could still tell that someone had been rifling through them, though. Might as well start with the usual suspects.

"Leviathan!" the blonde scampered into the room from the lounge adjacent to his office, still in pajamas and holding a coffee pot and mug in either hand.

"Yes sir?"

"Did you touch my stuff?"

"No." He said it too quickly for it to be truthful and he leveled a glare at him that he hoped would express that he would be punished if he didn't confess. "Well, not a lot. And I didn't take anything!"

"For once; it would appear that miracles still happen even to the likes of us. Can I ask why you felt the urge to invade my office during my absence?"

"Er…it's embarrassing. And personal!"

"Fancy that, so is my office. Now are you going to tell me what you were doing in here or do I have to take it from your pea brain by force?"

"Okay, okay, I'll tell you! I was looking for someone's file so I could learn a little more about them."

Lucifer raised an eyebrow when the blonde didn't continue. "And?"

"And I did, and I'm done, and can I please go now?"

"No. Whose file?" Levi didn't answer, biting his lip. "That was a question, Levi, and you know that I don't enjoy waiting for answers. It makes me angry."

"Harry Potter's, sir."

"Why?"

Instead of answering his question, he asked one, "Did you know that Asmodeus and Harry fought and are no longer romantically connected?"

Lucifer's eyes widened and he dug through the stack until he found Potter's, skimming the latest developments in the time line sheet, mouth working soundlessly. "Who's going to keep an eye on the Vampires then?"

Levi shrugged. "I was about to ask you."

"Thank you for bringing this to my attention…we will have to call a meeting and see what we are going to do about this."

"I'll alert the others, and should I summon some Angels and whatever Humans they have working for them as well?"

"Yeah, sure. At the very least they can get some free wine out of the deal."

Levi snickered despite the seriousness of the situation, remembering the last time they had Gathered and the massive hangovers everyone had endured for days afterward.

--

End chapter 59

Le gasp! Harry is a flirt (kinda)!


	60. Chapter 60

A/N: thanks for all the reviews last chapter got! And sorry for the delay, but my electricity was gone for a while.

CHAPTER 60

Raphael raised an eyebrow when a steaming black envelope appeared on his kitchen counter beside him while he washed the dishes that had piled up over his busy work week. He dried his hands on a towel and picked it up, not wincing at the searing burn that the paper gave the tips of his fingers while he struggled to open it with his fingers, succeeding in opening it after a few minutes but at the expense of completely shredding the envelope in the process. He shrugged and tossed the remnants in his trash can, unfolding the piece of plain paper that had been inside instead of the usual formal parchment.

_Raphael,_

_You're invited (required to attend) a Gathering in the fourth Circle of Hell on November 27__th__. If all else fails to convince you to attend, allow me to mention that there will be an open bar and a selection of romantically-desperate females loosened from aforementioned alcohol. See you there!_

_Leviathan_

He looked at his clock and noticed that it was the 25th. His eye twitched and he set the invitation on his desk, not sparing it a second glance and returning to the kitchen to finish his previous task. He wondered if it would be worth his bother attending, but then remembered that he had been scheduled to meet his most obnoxious patient on the 27th, and so going 'out of town' on that day would be most prudent of him not acquiring any gray hairs amongst his blonde.

Having made up his mind and mentally worded his reply, he put away the last of the plates and sauntered back into his room, snatching up a pen and the note so he could write on the back.

_Leviathan,_

_Thanks for following the conduct rules and giving me a week's notice. bastard. Yes, I will be attending the god-awful event, but if I discover that the open bar was some sort of joke, I will slice of what is left of your wings and stuff them down your throat after stringing you up by your spine in front of the assembled persons. _

_I hope your mother is doing well. _

_Raphael. _

--

Harry smiled at Dean from across the Potion's lab, not able to sit with him due to pre-assigned seating by his Head of House. They were learning how to make Potions that would alter one's perception of the weather today, mild of course, and he was enjoying the mental challenge.

His was supposed to induce the impression of brighter sunlight, and was meant for those with dimming eyesight. Beside him, Lavender Brown fidgeted and almost knocked over the ingredients repeatedly, obviously not used to getting paired with a Slytherin who was willing to actually work with her, and therefore setting off her balance.

It glowed happily when he added the last ingredients, handing the stirring spoon to Brown with a smile and stepping to the side so she could complete the final process and stir it 20 times counter-clockwise and finishing up with three turns clockwise. It began to glow a little brighter with each stir and thickened into gelatin, making it a little difficult to bottle it and give it to Professor Snape for testing. They managed anyway and he let her deliver it while he cleaned up their station and sat down on the neglected bench to wait for the rest of the class to finish. His eyelids drooped suddenly and without warning when he leaned back against the backrest and he forced himself to sit up straight. He hadn't been sleeping hardly at all this last week and it took its toll whenever he allowed it to, and even though he knew he should make an effort to sleep more, he didn't really fight them at any other time, content to let his body sleep when it would.

Staring at the ceiling until his eyes went fuzzy, he mentally asked himself what he wanted to do that weekend. Dean had invited him to go with him to Hogsmeade on Saturday and he'd accepted, but besides that he didn't have any plans which was depressing for some reason even though he had spent most of his weekends in the past curled up in bed with Asmodeus-

He stomped on the mental rush of images of his ex-boyfriend. He liked to think that he was doing okay on his own most of the time, and he was able to don the semblance of normalcy, but the point remained that he deeply missed the Demon despite what he'd done. But these days his mind liked to split itself between the past and what he shyly hoped might be in the future with Dean. Neither of them had made any definite 'moves' lately, but Dean had made a point of sitting closer than necessary to him and touching him whenever appropriate.

There was a sudden weight shift on his left side which he had hung his school bag from and he jumped, startling Lavender who had sat beside him after getting the potion off their hands.

"You okay?" She whispered, seeing no reason not to continue the peaceful truce they'd wordlessly established.

"Yeah." He replied, slipping a hand into his bag. His fingers closed over something unfamiliar and he pulled the corner of it out of the flap so he could peek at it. It was a black envelope, and it was still warm.

--

Sitting outside separate from his friends for once since they were busy studying before dinner for assignments he had finished last night, he gently removed the envelope from his bag and opened it. He got a paper cut while pulling out the actual letter and stuck his finger in his mouth, unfolding the paper one-handed and skimming the contents. It was an invitation of some kind to a 'Gathering' on Sunday the 27th. The note wasn't signed, and when he flipped it over there was a complex diagram framed with tiny script that showed him how to transport himself to the site of the Gathering.

He ran his thumb over the diagram, feeling very interested in going. He wondered if he was allowed to bring a date.

Smacking his forehead and running his fingers through his hair, he relaxed against the dried grass and stared up at the gray sky, blinking when a rain drop landed on the side of his face. It was cold and shocked his skin a little, but he didn't get up, merely closing his eyes and letting himself relax as the rain picked up. He was probably going to get sick from this, but the cold rain felt nice even though it was already close to freezing out there.

Two hours later Dean came outside looking for him, Seamus' umbrella and company in tow.

"Why are we looking for your new little Slytherin friend again?" he whined, swigging something piss-colored from his flask and obnoxiously leaning on him since he knew he wasn't really upset and was just pretending to be irritated with him.

"Because no one's seen him for a while and its raining and I'm worried. Enough reasons for you?"

"Hmm….no. Tell me more!" He giggled like a girl and almost tripped over his own feet, forcing Dean to catch him around the shoulders so he wouldn't go splashing through the puddles like he obviously wanted to.

"Um, I don't want him getting sick from the bleeding rain, beat up by bored 7th years, harassed by younger years, or…"

"Or?"

"Or with someone else besides me." He said it quieter than he had the others, not meeting his friend's suddenly lucid eyes.

"Hey, hey, Dean, you've got no competition for this boy…and even if you did, you're already ahead of the game 'cause he likes you."

"Really? You think he likes me?"

"Oh yeah, he definitely likes you."

"Who likes who?" A new voice joined the conversation and they looked down, realizing that they would have stepped on Harry if he hadn't interrupted.

"Uh…no one likes anybody!" Dean laughed nervously and Seamus glared at him, elbowing him in the ribs. "Ow!" he hissed, rubbing the area that he knew would bruise tomorrow. Seamus had pointy elbows.

Harry sleepily nodded, not seeming to care that lying in wet grass while soaked to the bone was unusual. "Nice of you to visit." Okay, so maybe he really needed to get more sleep at night, but to tell the truth he kind of liked the fizzy feeling in his head when he hadn't slept in a couple days.

--

End chapter 60

Oh my god, its 60 chapters already! I am obscenely proud of little ol' me right now :D


	61. Chapter 61

CHAPTER 61

It was Saturday morning and Harry was agonizing over what to wear for the first time in…in a long time. Draco was lounging on his bed, not caring about the various items of clothing steadily piling over his legs while he read the weekend gossip columns so he could have new material to insult the pitiful Wizarding reporters on. Why didn't they just admit that all the worthwhile stuff could be fit into one small paragraph every week, but then that would make the general populace realize just how few of them there really were internationally and spark a Muggle-Wizard peace treaty so they could have more variety in companionship.

"How about this one?" Harry breathlessly asked, holding a blue collared shirt up to his bare chest. They had been doing this for the past hour so by now Draco knew that Harry asking for his opinion was a mere formality and he was really just going to sift through all of his admittedly not-extensive collection of clothing until he found what he was looking for.

"I like it."

"Good, 'cause I'm wearing it!"

He blinked. It was over so soon? Pansy could go at this for weeks if left alone and with a big event hanging on the horizon. He shuddered at that recollection and dearly wished that he hadn't disturbed those suppressed memories.

"With what pants?"

"These ones." Harry held up a pair of denims and then disappeared into the bathroom to shower quickly before dressing and meeting Dean downstairs by the Front Gates. They had decided that it would be better not to show up at either one of their House entrances for fear of prejudiced peers.

Fifteen minutes later, just as Draco was finishing the paper, Harry emerged fully dressed and stood in front of the mirror trying to do something with his hair but failing. "Dammit…" he shouldered his usual bag and said, "Bye Draco! See you later, 'kay?"

"Yeah, yeah. Don't do anything that you don't absolutely want to do, or else you'll regret it."

Harry gave him a long look and then nodded slowly. "Alright. I'll keep that in mind." Draco nodded and waved him off. Harry left with a faint smile on his face but pensiveness in his eyes. He wondered what he had made his friend think about, since it didn't look like it was fluffy bunny rabbits or daisies.

It was none of his business anyway.

--

Seeing Dean sitting on a ledge inside one of the alcoves by the door, he sneaked along the side of the wall out of sight and then jumped in front of the Gryffindor, massive smile lighting up his face.

Dean shrieked and dropped his sketchbook, gasping for breath while Harry retrieved it, moving slowly so he could get a look at what he had been drawing. It was the wall across from him, complete with portraits and even a few splashes of color glimmering through a depiction of Nearly-Headless Nick. Harry had always felt a bit sorry for that particular ghost since his state made it impossible for him to join the Headless Hunters or something.

He handed it back and Dean tucked it into his satchel, guiding them out the doors and down the soggy path to the train that would take them to Hogsmeade. Harry walked close enough beside him that their hands brushed against each other, watching closely to see if he blushed or moved away. The first would tell him that he really did like him in some small way and the other would let him know whether or no he should tell him about his own feelings.

Dean blushed and surprised him by moving even closer so that their hands touched the whole walk there and when they sat down next to each other he actually petted his hand a little. Harry fought his blush and made small talk as the train pulled away from the station and carried them towards their destination, casually swinging his leg in such a way that it bumped Dean's ankle periodically.

They shared a private smile before separating long enough to disembark and head towards the pub to warm up from the blasts of freezing wind assaulting them. The pub was too warm once they had warmed up, but it was this or the too-cold outdoors so they settled into the arm chairs close to the fire and chatted about whatever came to mind and made plans to visit the candy shop before leaving to go back to the school.

--

It was dark when they got back, and Dean broke their little unspoken pact by walking Harry to his House entrance.

"Um…" Dean started, trailing off and looking slightly lower than Harry's nose.

"I had fun, Dean. We should do this again sometime." And then, deciding that it was worth the risk, he leaned down and kissed him on the corner of his mouth, enjoying the sensation of being so close to another person, having forgotten how much he missed Asmo-

No thoughts of his ex were going to ruin this, he decided, and shifted to the side so he was no longer 'innocently' on the side of his mouth but rather full-on. It was short but sweet and he pulled back slowly, hesitant to see the other boy's reaction. Oh god. He'd moved too fast, hadn't he?

But there was no sign of distaste on Dean's face, he merely looked dazed despite the kiss being neither forceful nor extensive. "Harry-"

"Good night!" He chirped before things could get awkward and started down the tunnel that would lead to his Common Room, missing Dean's decidedly love-struck expression while he stared after him.

"Holy shit…we kissed! Yes!" He punched a fist into the air and sprinted off to tell Seamus, ignoring the wide-eyed first years staring at him.

--

End chapter 61

Bahaha! Who doesn't love awkward teenage love?


	62. Chapter 62

CHAPTER 62

Waking up a little after ten on Sunday after staying up until almost 6 in the morning thinking about Dean and whether or not the move he had made would sabotage their friendship and ruin any hope for a closer bond in the future, Harry literally rolled out of bed and onto a pointy quill that had been abandoned by Blaise recently. Moaning since his mouth was too dehydrated to shriek, he sat up and groggily removed the offending quill from his buttocks.

"Damn you Blaise." The usual force such a statement would have was ruined by the fact that he fell back asleep seconds after his declaration, curling into a ball and using his hands as a pillow. Blaise, fully awake and peaceably reading a sports magazine, snickered and tossed a chocolate frog box at his head, grinning when Harry brushed it out of his hair and mumbled in his doze.

He woke up again half an hour later, took a shower, and informed Gregory while getting dressed that he would be gone most of the day visiting some people. Greg had grunted and said that he would tell anyone who asked. Harry smiled and then went out, heading for one of the staircases that would let him out onto the roof.

It took a while to decode the tiny handwriting surrounding the rune that was supposed to carry him to the Gathering, but once he got it the process only took a half a minute to perform before he found himself sucked into the swirls on the paper, feeling distinctly like he had just been burned alive but was unharmed for some reason.

He landed flat on his back with a startled 'oof!', immediately sitting up despite there being no air in his lungs and looking around himself. He groaned when he noticed that he was in a barren field that looked suspiciously familiar. His mind helpfully supplied a childhood memory of awakening here after his ill-fated suicide attempt. Well, maybe it wasn't considered an attempt since it worked, if only for a few days.

"Oh my God, please tell me this is not where I think it is."

"Well, that depends on which God you're praying to." A sly voice said from behind him, forcing him to whip his head around and ogle the skeletal woman dressed in tattered white clothes, holding of all things what he first thought was a glass of wine but then a smoky breeze came by and he caught the sharp scent of blood. She grinned, red eyes above glittering teeth before offering a hand to help him up. He took it since he was already dead and really, how much worse could it get?

Apparently a lot worse because now he could see over her shoulder and noticed a series of structures made from various materials filled with milling Creatures, a few Humans that he could see mixed in. and he had just seen a familiar brunette walk from one tent into another, a slim feminine Creature with large pointed ears on his arm. Scowling, he allowed the albino Vampire to lead him towards them, grabbing a glass of champagne from the first tray that floated past, swallowing all of it in one gulp despite knowing that he should be completely sober so he could get a better grasp on what was going on around him. But at the same time, he was going to need the warm feeling of alcohol in his stomach if he was going to survive another glimpse and possibly even an encounter with Asmodeus.

"I'm Sylvi, by the way. What's your name, punk?"

"What's it to you?" he snapped, not in the mood to be friendly.

"Jeez kid, no need to bite my head off! I was just asking, you know, since I got told to be on my best behavior and I'm curious about you."

"Oh really." They had found seats by now, or at least he had and she deigned to slouch beside him on the retro sofa, even being forward enough to sling an arm around the back of the couch, suspiciously close to his shoulders.

"Really." She purred, definitely invading his personal space now.

"Um, do you mind giving me some space? I've just met you and I'm usually not to good around strangers, if you know what I mean."

"Fine." She sulked, pulling her face away but didn't remove her arm from behind his head.

"Thank you." Even though he knew he was going to look prissy doing it, he crossed his legs and folded his arms across his chest so that she could see less of him, which was supposed to make her get the hint and back off. She didn't read body language apparently because she shifted herself so her hip was bumping his. He glared and she smirked, finishing off her blood and flinging the glass at the back of someone's head. It bounced off on impact and into the hand of whoever it was. They turned around and approached, and as their features came into focus, Harry cringed. It was Leviathan.

He could tell the exact moment when the Demon recognized him since his footsteps faltered and a pained expression crossed his face before he forced himself to cross the remaining distance and sit on the unoccupied couch across from them.

"Which one of you threw this?"

Sylvi shrugged, chewing her nails and looking everywhere but the Demon. Harry tilted his head in her direction, making the fluids in his head slosh around and the room swirl. That must have been some champagne, he dimly noted, slouching against his will into the soft cushions of the sofa and staring down the blonde.

"So…how are you?" The Demon was trying to make conversation, but for what reason Harry didn't know.

"I'm okay. Courting a Gryffindor at my school and its going well so far. How about yourself?" he grabbed another glass of champagne from a tray hovering close to his face, opting to sip this one.

"Still corrupting innocent people…a little lonely, but besides that I've been pretty solid." Half-way through his sentence a Demon that Harry dimly recognized as Lucifer wandered over and sat on the arm rest of the couch, interjecting at the end in a voice thick with alcohol, "Solid my ass. You cried your eyes out for God knows how many days and-"

Leviathan raised a leg and used it to kick him off the couch. "Fuck off!"

"Would love to but am currently too emotionally unavailable to have a normal relationship, but hey! At least I could get someone single to look at me twice-"

"God, just shut up." Levi snarled, getting up and stalking off conspicuously in the direction of the bar. Harry looked down at his hands, suddenly feeling even a little sorry for the other. It would seem that they had both been wronged and here he had been feeling sorry for himself, thinking that he was the only one with problems. He got up and followed the other, making sure that nothing was missing from his bag first since he wouldn't put stealing above the catty woman who had been harassing him.

"Levi, wait!"

Sylvi shook her head and slumped into the side of the couch, almost missing her blonde target to talk to. She sensed someone standing close to her and raised her head slightly to see Asmodeus staring after the blonde and Human, looking like he wanted to cry.

"Um, you okay?" He made a choked noise instead of replying and moved swiftly away. Feeling a little disgruntled, she tried to settle down again but a niggling scrap of compassion left over from when she used to be Human harassed her until she sighed and stood up to go after him.

After wandering from tent to tent aimlessly, she discovered him sitting on an outcropping of rock that offered a fine view of the Lake of Fire. When you weren't burning in it, it was rather beautiful. "Hey." She whispered, sitting beside him and tentatively curling her arm around his waist. He sniffled and leaned into her one-armed hug cautiously.

"Hey, honey, I don't bite so it's okay to lean on me for real." He snorted at the bite comment and relaxed his muscles, resting his head partially on her hair that had stubbornly worked its way out of her top knot.

Several minutes passed and his breathing and heart rate slowed more as time went by until she knew he was calm and thinking straight again. "You feeling better?"

"Yeah…a little. Thanks for, you know, sitting with me."

"For someone who looks as good as you, I'd do much more." He grinned at her and leaned forward to rest his arms on his knees so he could get a closer look at a swirling plume of blue fire twisting through the red.

"So…you're Sylvi, right? From that one Vampire group?"

"Bingo. I can tell that you're one of those oh-so-lovely people that gave me the curse, but I always get your names mixed up. You are?"

"Asmodeus, Demon of Lust."

"Oh really? I've heard some very interesting stories about you…" She used a mock-flirting voice while he flicked some hair off of his forehead and struck an exaggerated pose.

"Everything about me is interesting."

"Oh, I agree."

"Heh, do you now?"

"Oh yes, I do now. Such as why you are mooning after that pretty Human boy I was trying to chat up." her sharp eyes picked up the almost imperceptible flinch when she mentioned him. "Come on, I can tell something happened to make you act all out of character like this. Did you kick you in the balls when you hit on him or something?"

"Nothing like that, and it's none of your business anyway."

"Fine. I'll ask him instead. He's had enough to loosen that pink tongue of his by now." She made to get up and he grabbed her hand, tugging her back down.

"Hey, you stay away from him!"

"Okay. But you have to tell me what's going on between you two first in exchange, or else I will go and hit on him until he screws around with me to make me go away." She pulled out her pack of cigarettes and lit one, impudently blowing smoke in his face.

She was disappointed when he didn't cough.

"Alright, it's a deal." She looked at him expectantly while he took a deep breath. "In summary, we used to be, you know, together and we were together for quite some time…and then I screwed up and cheated on him with my ex-boyfriend instead of being patient enough to wait for him to give me more physical attention. Harry found out and understandably dumped me on my ass." He stole one of her cigarettes, lit it, and took a deep drag before softly saying, "He deserves better, you know?"

"He may have already found it, since he told Levi that he's courting some Gryffindor, whatever that means."

"What?!"

"Oh, he didn't tell you?" She snickered at his appalled facial expression. He obviously still wasn't ready to share his boy-toy, ex or otherwise, with anyone else.

"We haven't spoken since he told me that it was over."

"Ah."

"Yeah…so…a Gryffindor, huh?"

"Yep."

"Goddammit…" He hissed, squeezing his hands into fists tight enough to make his nails cut through the false flesh he wore.

"Calm down, Azzy."

The nickname was so unexpected that he unclenched his hands and stared at her wide-eyed. "What? You got a problem with the name 'Azzy'?"

"Not really, it's just that its new."

"So you're one of those people that don't like change? No wonder you got dumped-"

"Shut up."

She snorted, flicking ash from her cigarette over the precipice. "Do you know why this Gathering got called in the first place?"

"No idea, but I think it has something to do with Earth's natural resources getting too polluted or something. Lucifer said something about natural disasters too, although whether he was referring to prevention or creation I didn't catch."

"Haha, that's a big difference, and either way it will be a lot of work to have to do."

"No shit."

"You know, you're pretty cool when you're not pining for lover boy." He glared at her and she winked.

--

Harry stood a few feet away from Levi, feeling confused but compassionate, not knowing what to say to him. They had ended their impromptu game of hide-and-seek in a lavatory made specifically for their Human guests, the blonde curled into a ball in the corner of one of the stalls, refusing to meet Harry's eyes.

Sighing, he moved slowly closer until he was close enough to sit beside him, and lightly stroked one finger that was unprotected from the tangle of limbs the Demon had curled himself into.

"Hey…"

Leviathan didn't answer at first, but did deign to raise his head enough for one eye to peek shyly at him through his fringe of hair. "Why aren't you hitting me or something?"

Harry opened his mouth and then shut it, moving himself so he was pressed against Levi's side. "I don't have a reason to."

"Yes you do! After what I did with-"

"That wasn't your fault. He knew what he was doing and what the consequences of his actions would be. You didn't and because of that I can not justifiably cause you any harm. You're just as much of a victim as I was."

"Heh…that's a nice way of seeing it, but if I'm innocent then why do I feel so damn guilty whenever I see either you or him? I basically ruined your relationship!"

"Yeah, but the very fact that he could live with cheating on me in the first place or even be tempted meant that it would have happened sooner or later anyway. It just happened to be sooner this time, and I understand that you didn't know Asmodeus was serious about me."

"But-"

"No buts. Do you drink?" He pulled out the sample-sized bottle of quality tequila Vladimir had sent him on a whim, unscrewing the top and taking a sip before passing it to the blonde. It was strong but good, and between them they finished half of the tiny bottle over half an hour while Leviathan actually started to participate in the previously one-sided conversation Harry had struck up on bamboo and why the kind that curled was called 'lucky'.

When they left the bathroom an hour or two later (Harry hadn't been keeping track), it was with a bounce in their steps and were informed that they'd missed the planning and announcements. Harry shrugged it off and asked Levi to keep him posted on anything that affected him, kissing him lightly and exiting the tents to take the runes back up to Earth.

--

End chapter 62

So…sorry about no Dean in this one, but the plot needed some attention :P


	63. Chapter 63

CHAPTER 63

Classes were dragging by and Harry just couldn't pay attention to a word his Arithmancy Professor was saying. He had gathered at the beginning that it had something to do with infinity, but his brain really wasn't up to concentrating on anything other than Dean's foot, which was inconspicuously resting along side his own, occasionally moving it so it stroked his ankle. His notes were mere scribbles and his mask of composure was in grave danger of slipping every time he did it.

One thing he was sure of now was that Dean really hadn't minded the kiss at all, and the warm glow swelling inside his chest almost kept him from feeling the cold of mid-December.

His father had sent him a letter yesterday saying that they wouldn't be celebrating Christmas together because Maalik's mother wanted to meet James and one of her conditions for accepting her son's husband had been that they had no 'strings', also known as children from other relationships, connected to their marriage. Harry had not felt hurt, but had understood how important making a good impression on his husband's family was to his father and so he would do his best to assist him in his wishes. Even if it meant spending Christmas cold and alone in a Castle with a smattering of students he didn't know and didn't want to, and drunken Professors taking advantage of the decreased stress of underage persons on the premises that needed watching.

Dean moved his foot a little higher than usual, rubbing along the curve of his calf muscle just as everyone else bustled rapidly to get their bags together since the class had been dismissed a moment ago while he was lost in his thoughts. Blushing a little, he shyly brushed his hand along his elbow before separating from him to head to his next class, unwittingly leaving Dean a little fuzzy inside.

And speaking of fuzziness, his head had gotten worse now that he was having trouble sleeping in his frozen dormitory and pre-Christmas homework built up and kept him awake later anyway. And he had been flying so high with his slowly blossoming connection with Dean that he just couldn't bear to mix food with his butterflies in his stomach these days. The only times he actually managed to focus long enough to eat a barely-decent amount of food for a boy his age was when his busybody friends were bored enough to nag him into eating so much that his stomach nearly burst.

Not that he ever got any apologies for that particular offense on their part. Shaking his head, he sat next to a Hufflepuff girl for variety in partners, absently stroking the trembling leaves of the feisty nettle plant he had been assigned to develop an affectionate relationship with. It was going well so far, he thought, since it only stung him when he startled it by accident instead of whenever he was in reach like some of the other specimens were doing to their hapless masters. He snickered when he saw his partner stick her swollen finger in her mouth after moving her plant too roughly into a larger patch of sunlight breaking through the grey clouds visible through the greenhouse ceilings.

"Why is your's so nice?" She hissed when Professor Sprout was on the other side of the room.

"I treat it with respect, like all living things deserve. If your's is mean, it's your fault and I feel no pity for someone who would go so far as to abuse a mere defenseless plant."

"Defenseless?!" She loudly whispered, clearly outraged and holding out her rapidly swelling hand for inspection. "I hardly think something vicious enough to do this to me, who never did it any harm, can be considered defenseless."

Clearing his throat a little in warning about the professor, he replied, "They only use the swelling kind when they are really scared. Its your fault."

"I don't even know you, but I think I hate you." She whispered back, adjusting her plant unnecessarily and getting stung for her efforts. He grinned and shook his head, petting the bud at the tip of the plant affectionately.

--

Raphael sipped his water to buy time, the old lady in front of him scowling at him over her cat-eye spectacles.

"Mr. Raphael, if you would please answer the question, we can all get on with our day's activities."

He could hardly believe that this was happening to him, after all the other seemingly more important threats he had spent years anticipating and dodging with next to no effort. He was being audited, of all things, and the agent across from him should have obviously retired 30 years ago since she could barely shuffle around and her face was one big mass of wrinkles, pinched mouth distinguished from the leathery skin with blinding salmon-pink lip stick and eyes barely peering out from behind her flamboyant glasses which clashed with her conservative government-issue suit.

"Yes, ma'am, I admit to having embellished my income, but only by a nickel. I was this close to affording this one thing but was five cents short and…" He trailed off. She glowered at him and scribbled something on her clipboard.

"Oh, damn it all…I _hate _doing this but-" He reached out a tendril of power and tugged all of her memories and mental records of him out, turning them into flowery fancies and shoving them far into her subconscious. She would probably die of old age before her mind made those thoughts occur to her.

When he focused his mind outwards and into his Human body, he saw her slumped into the couch, fast asleep and snoring slightly most likely due to a sinus infection. Sighing, he picked her up and carried her out to her car, removing her keys from her purse and slipping them into the ignition. He leaned over after situating himself on the driver's side and strapped her in, doing a quick mental search to see where she lived.

After dropping her off at her house and erasing his name and information from her schedule and paper records, he snapped his fingers and dissipated into smoke, leaving her house smelling like flowers.

When he reappeared, it was in his home and he went straight to work erasing and recreating his official records. Somehow the process of creating a false identity had become harder than it used to be, and it could only get harder with all the computers being used these days. He rubbed at his eyes, wishing he had someone to talk to that he hadn't known for over 5000 years. His eyes lit up when he remembered a certain blonde female, reaching for his phone before he even finished his train of thought. He glanced at the clock while it rang, noting that she would probably be home right now since it was two hours after her classes ended and she was usually puttering around her house at this time getting things ready for Christmas and just doing general chores.

It was picked up, Luna's voice chirping, "Hello?"

"Guess who." He grinned when she made a mock-exasperated sound in the back of her throat.

"Satan?"

"Hey! No need to get catty with me young lady."

"Heh, sorry. I'm just currently having that one week out of the month where I am completely miserable."

"Oh…Oh! Sorry if this is a bad time. Bye-"

"Wait. What did you want to say?"

"I was going to invite you over for tea or something while I sort out some legal problems. The house felt empty and I got lonely…"

"I don't mind coming over. I'll take the next train so I'll be there in about…oh, say 45 minutes?"

"Sounds good. See you then."

"Bye!" She hung up and he slouched in his chair, raising his hands above his head and stretching them full out. Glancing down at the files in front of him, he wondered if the government was at least in part controlled by the Demons because last he had checked only they knew how to write such long-winded explanations and tie things up in wait lists that could go on for years.

"Goddammit…"

--

End chapter 63

Sorry its short!


	64. Chapter 64

CHAPTER 64

Students were calling to each other over the mass panic, bumping into their neighbors, first years getting trampled underfoot and elbows flying out to hit people in the eye. All in all, Harry thought that the hubbub to get to the train for Christmas holidays was more subdued than usual. No one had broken a bone yet, as far as he could tell.

He leaned over the balcony he was standing on, stretching his body out further to wave to Dean, who was coming up to get him. They were going after the larger crowd even though that meant they'd probably end up sitting in the hall since the compartments would be gone by then. Harry was fine with that though, because the whole reason he would be on the train in the first place was Dean's invitation to spend Christmas with him and his family after Harry had mentioned to someone else at the lunch table last week that he would be spending the holidays at the Castle because his guardians were busy this year.

Dean joined him, leaning his trunk against the wall and slumping to the floor beside it. "I feel like I just survived a battle or something. Those kids are vicious when they move in packs, you know." He rubbed at a nasty purple bruise forming on his forearm, grinning tiredly at Harry when he sat beside him, his feet sore from standing up there and scanning the crowd.

They spent five minutes in companionable silence, Harry bouncing his knee a little and staring at a spider gracefully moving along the wall as it wove a web. It was almost done, and Harry felt kind of sorry for it because there wouldn't be many bugs for it to eat- the cold had killed them and even some small animals. He winced when he remembered the half-dead rabbit he had encountered on the way to Care of Magical Creatures. He'd given it to the half-giant in charge of the class to nurse back to health even though he technically could have done the same since Claudia had found her mother and never come back, and of course 'Raito' was no more. Thinking about it, he really should get a familiar so he could have someone to keep him company in those times when he wasn't in the mood for his fellow humans.

In the background the noise level shifted to a lower octave, and they stood simultaneously, Harry helping Dean with his trunk since he'd already loaded his own at the crack of dawn before even the early-rising Hufflepuffs could do so.

--

Slumped on the floor of the boy's WC, Harry lit up and offered one to Dean. "I don't smoke."

"Oh, does it bother you?"

"Nah, I just don't want to murder my lungs."

"I can open a window-"

"You don't have to do that. I don't mind you smoking next to me."

"If you're sure."

"I am. So, you said last week that you live with guardians- what are they like?"

"Um, I am officially under the guardianship of Bronislav Polski, but his older brother Vladimir, and this guy named Maalik also live with us." He left out the rest since two were legally dead and James was supposed to be.

"Are they pretty strict?"

He laughed. "I don't think strict could possibly be used to describe them. Well, sometimes they give me rules but they aren't ones I want to disobey so…hmm. What are your parents like?"

"My mum is really nice, so my dad is the strict one. He works a lot these days, though, so you might not see him very much."

"Pity, that." He vanished the ashes gathering at the end of his cigarette, feeling suddenly hungry. Maybe skipping breakfast wasn't such a good idea.

--

Luna rapped on the door in front of her, sneering at the chipping paint that stuck to her knuckles, wiping it off on her skirt. It opened and Raphael blinked at her.

"You're early."

"Yeah, well, I decided that I could use some help getting the house ready for the guests. And of course you don't have anything better to be doing so…"

"Oh, fine! Just let me put some stuff away and I'll be right with you." When she made no move closer, he rolled his eyes and grabbed her wrist to pull her inside. "It's freezing out there. You'll wait in here, okay?" He disappeared into his bedroom/office to no doubt organize whatever he had been working on before she had interrupted him. Nobody should be working on Christmas, as far as she was concerned, and had arrived early on purpose even though she could have done the house work by herself just fine. It seemed that those gossipy magazines at the Laundromat were right about doctors working too hard.

"Alright." She looked around, running a finger sneakily along the top of a chest of drawers with papers haphazardly stuffed inside. Her finger came off covered in dust and she made a face, sneezing when she shook the dust off of it.

"Bless you!" He called, re-entering the room a moment later with a brightly-wrapped package under his arm. "This is for you- sorry I didn't give it to you this morning."

"You, uh, got me a present?"

"Oh, shut up. It's not that unheard of."

"For you it is." He lowered his eyebrows and put his hands on his hips so she stuck her tongue out and opened it carefully to avoid ripping the paper, which she was going to re-use. After all, her mother had always said 'waste not, want not' and she made a point of behaving as if her mother were still alive and breathing down her neck at all times while not working. It was a book of Lord Byron poems that she had been wanting for a while but didn't remember mentioning it around him. "Aww, thank you!" And before he could dodge it, she hugged him tightly around the waist. Since she didn't want to die an early and messy death, she released him quickly and bounded towards the door, asking him if he was ready to go yet.

"Yeah, just let me get my stuff on so I don't turn into an icicle out there." He plopped down on the sofa and pulled on first one boot, then the other, shouldering into his coat when he was done.

"Let's go!"

"What's got you so excited?!" She shrieked, dragged down the hall behind him by her wrist.

He didn't answer until they were safely on the bus, grinning and replying, "I guess the Christmas craze has finally hit me." He poked her nose and she attempted to bite his finger as punishment, getting a smack on the wrist for her bother.

--

End chapter 64

Do you have any idea how weird it feels to be writing about Christmas in the middle of the summer? Review!


	65. Chapter 65

CHAPTER 65

Harry stood uncomfortably in the foyer of Dean's cramped house, smiling when his little sister bounded in, not caring that he was a total stranger, and rambled about the presents she had asked for and how some of the packages under the tree were shaped like what she'd wished for.

Dean returned, steered his sister by her head into another room, and signaled for Harry to follow him up the stairs covered with dirty dishes and stacks of items that looked like they had nowhere else to be stored, Dean snatching a copy of the Daily Prophet on his way up. "My room's the one on the far left." He said, opening the door and holding it open for Harry so he could wade through the stacks of what could easily spark a fire. He guessed no smoking for him this week.

"So…where do you want me to sleep?"

"Um, well, where would you be comfortable?"

"Anywhere is fine." Harry grinned, sitting on his bed absently and swinging a leg to the rhythm of a Muggle Christmas song that was being played in another part of the house. It was about snow or something, but the lyrics were quiet so he couldn't really tell.

"Would…would you be okay sharing?"

"With you? Sure." Dean sighed; looking relieved, and joined him on the bed. "What do you want to do?"

"I don't know. I'd normally finish my Christmas hols homework, but these are new circumstances and I don't want to bore you."

"No, getting the homework out of the way sounds like a good idea, actually. I normally wait until the last minute and only get half of it done if I'm lucky. It might be a nice surprise for my professors if I do my work for once."

Harry laughed and teased, "I didn't see you as the slacker type."

"Yeah, well, my mum says I just lack motivation."

"Speaking of your mum, where is she? I should probably introduce myself so I don't give her a heart attack at the dinner table."

"Oh, she works now too and will be back in maybe an hour, maybe more, depending on traffic. Sometimes the roads get blocked with snow and stuff this time of year." Harry nodded.

"What does she do for work?"

"Secretarial work and she bartends on the weekends too."

"Wow…that's a full schedule."

"Yeah."

They went quiet, smiling a little at each other and both hoping that the other wouldn't mind if they moved closer. Dean thought 'to hell with it' and scooted closer subtly, getting met halfway by Harry, who smiled and poked his cheek. "Don't tell me brave Gryffindor is shy."

"Oh, shut up, you jerk!"

"Hey, what did I say?" Harry made his eyes go big and did his best to look innocent. It didn't work, because Dean had to cover his mouth to keep from laughing. "I'm sorry, Harry, but you just don't have the face to pull off 'harmless'."

"Is that so?"

"Yes."

Harry tackled him, going straight for the ribs and then shifting to the back of his knees when he decided that he wasn't laughing hard enough. "Take it back!"

"Never!"

"I won't stop until you do." He grinned down at him, eyes widening when Dean somehow got a toe-hold in the duvet and then flipped them, moving his fingers to Harry's armpits.

"No!"

"Yield!" Dean grinned down at him, teeth creating a beautiful contrast with his skin.

"No, shan't!"

"Do it!"

Harry was laughing too hard to answer, but weakly shook his head. "Argh, Harry, I'm getting tired!" He stopped tickling him, breathing hard and smiling at Harry, who struggled to catch his breath again.

"Well, that was interesting." The comment came from a middle-aged woman dressed in a pantsuit, leaning in the open doorframe and smiling gently at her son and who she guessed was his friend Harry from school. "Hi, you must be Harry. I'm Dean's mother."

"Nice to meet you, Mrs. Thomas." Harry rolled onto his side and raised himself so he could get off the bed in a more dignified fashion, approaching her and stretching out his hand to shake. She hugged him instead, almost suffocating him by pressing his face to her bosom and shaking him slightly in her arms. She was very soft and smelled good, just like he'd always imagined a mother should be if he ever got one.

"Oh please, Harry, call me mom. I don't mind."

"Okay. Thanks for letting me stay with you guys this Christmas."

"It's no problem; I had to spend the holidays at school once myself and its not the most entertaining experience. Christmas should always be something that makes you feel good inside."

"I agree." He liked her already, and spared a moment to wonder what his life would have been like if he had a female parent.

"Alright, you kids, I'm going to go make dinner and then we can all eat something, okay? Oh, and Harry, did you want some tea or anything?"

"No, I'm okay for now, thanks."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, I'm sure."

"Okay then. Behave yourselves." She winked and closed the door, and he heard the stairs creaking as she descended them.

"Sorry about my mum-"

"What are you sorry about? She has got to be the nicest person I've ever met!"

Dean blinked and wondered what sort of people Harry was normally around, besides his Slytherin posse. Not that he minded Harry's friends, since Draco made every effort to make him feel included when they were in the group and that Daphne girl made a point of giving him the same amount of sweets she did the rest, which is far more than Seamus or Ron ever bothered with.

--

Christmas Eve was spent playing card games and eating fruit, Dean's sister Abyssinia sitting on Harry's stomach and telling his cards to Dean until he noticed and plunked her in Dean's lap instead, taking full advantage of the tips she offered from her new vantage point and ignoring Dean's whining about it not being fair.

"Of course it's fair. What do you think she's spent the last half-hour doing?" Harry retorted at last, grinning at his friend.

"That was-that was different!" Dean defended.

"How is it different?" Harry grinned coyly, laying out a card that he now knew would let him win this game.

"Dammit…" Dean hissed. His mother came in out of the kitchen where she was making cookies and smacked his head.

"Language, young man! I raised you better than that, you know." She stalked back into her kitchen, head held high. Her son rubbed where she had hit him, groaning after her that he was sixteen now and should be allowed to say what he liked.

"Still think my mum is nice?"

"Oh, I like her lots more now." And before Dean could throw something at him, he leaned over Aby and tilted Dean's head so he could kiss the growing bump where he'd been smacked. Leaning back like nothing had happened and his friend wasn't bright red and staring at him, he casually asked, "Does it feel better now?"

Dean swallowed and replied, "I think it might need another one, just to be sure."

"Okay." He shrugged, covered Aby's eyes, and kissed him on the mouth, pulling back a second later. "Whoops. Missed it." he then kissed the side of his head where the injury was, making sure to stroke Dean's hair in the process. He loved the texture and got distracted enough to spend a few minutes twirling it around his fingers and mussing it.

"Hey-"

"You have really cool hair." Harry murmured, slightly awed. "I wish my hair was like this."

"Heh, it's a pain in the ass…"

"So? It feels good on my hands." Dean shifted a little, eyeing the open door to the kitchen.

"Hey, Harry, wanna go up to my room and do this?"

"Oh, sure. Mrs. Thomas? We're going upstairs, okay?"

"Alright!" She called back from the kitchen, banging some pots around. Harry grabbed his hand and practically dragged him upstairs, Aby toddling after them and giggling. Dean nearly shut the door in her face before realizing that she would cry if he did. Sighing, he scooped her up and closed the door behind him, joining Harry on the bed.

Harry pounced, going for the hair and somehow maneuvering Dean so his head was in lap so he could have more access to his short-cropped curls. "Isn't his hair nice, Aby?" He asked Dean's sister, who giggled and crawled onto the bed, sitting beside Harry and picking a section to play with. Dean purred a little bit, not having realized that having a head massage would feel this pleasant.

He winced when Harry's thumb pressed too hard on his bump, and Harry soothed it with a few tender strokes from the tips of his fingers, mumbling 'sorry'.

"Trust me, its okay." Dean sighed, turning onto his side and inhaling Harry's hip bone, and smiled when he realized that Harry smelled like oranges.

"You smell good."

"Thanks! So do you, by the way."

Dean drifted off into sleep, waking up an hour later to Harry shaking him and telling him that dinner was ready. He spent dinner carefully petting Harry's knee under the table, wondering why he had ever bothered with girls in the first place.

--

Christmas morning, Harry gifted Dean with a new book bag because his old one was falling apart and he had complained about it a few times. It was leather with a thick strap that wouldn't dig into his skin after hours of carrying it around.

"Thank you! This must have been really expensive…"

"Oh, it wasn't too bad. I'm not rich so I can't afford too much." Harry defended, waving a hand. "This is for you, Mrs. Thomas." He never could get used to calling her 'mom' and used her title most of the time.

"You didn't have to get me something!"

"Of course I did, you're opening your home to me after all."

"He has a point." Mr. Thomas agreed, grinning at his flustered wife.

"Shush, you." She opened it and cooed over the hostess apron he'd purchased at a Muggle gift shop after an hour of desperation not knowing what she'd like. "Now, Harry, we got you something too."

He blinked. "You did?"

"Sure, it's this one." She tossed a square parcel at him and he opened it, pulling out a handmade scarf. "My son says its cold at the school, so I hope this comes in handy."

"Thank you so much!" He leaned over and hugged her tightly. "I'm sure I'll wear it."

Dean shook his head a little, feeling slightly depressed to think about going back to school the day after tomorrow. Harry wouldn't be constantly around anymore once they went back.

--

End chapter 65

Happy Christmas! Lol!


	66. Chapter 66

CHAPTER 66

The scarf around his neck was soft and Harry nuzzled his face into it, rolling over so he could face Dean's back. He was still asleep, and he didn't blame him. It was their last day here since they left tomorrow morning, and they had stayed up very late last night talking, and he had been sure to keep the conversation moving so they wouldn't feel awkward like they had the other nights when they stayed silent and pretended to be asleep.

The only reason he was awake before Dean was because Aby had toddled in, crawled onto the bed, and cuddled next to him. Dean hadn't been lying when he'd said that she did that often, not liking sleeping in her own room instead of with her parents like she had last year. She was doing something to his hair that he couldn't see, but he'd told her she could do whatever she wanted with it as long as she didn't eat it.

A tug on his hair and then she used one tiny hand to angle his neck into a different position, which pressed his face into Dean's ribs. They weren't bony, so it wasn't so bad, but he hoped Dean didn't wake up and think he was trying to molest him in his sleep or something. That would be a rather bad impression to make, especially after their modest kiss last night.

Smiling a little, he took a finger and tried to find Dean's ribs, tracing out his ribcage as he found them under his flesh. He stirred and his finger stopped, frozen on the third rib he'd located on the side half-buried in the soft mattress. "Hmm, tickles…" Dean mumbled, shifting and burrowing his face into his pillow. Harry smiled and resumed his 'work', wincing when Abyssinia pulled a little too hard on his hair. Dean moved again, and then abruptly sat up straight with a small shriek.

"You okay?" Harry murmured, throat dry since he hadn't had any water yet that morning.

"What? Oh, morning, Harry. I just suddenly felt like I was being tickled is all."

Harry laughed a little and slumped back into the pillows. Dean blinked and then did the same, twisting so he could face Harry. "Hi Aby."

"'Lo, Dean."

"What on earth are you doing to Harry's hair?!"

Her only response was a giggle and Harry sighed. "Don't tell me. I don't want to know."

"Um, yeah. I can see why." He whispered, "Don't worry, I'll help you get it out later in the bathroom where she won't see."

"Thanks."

"No problem. This is the reason I practically shaved my head last year."

"You did?"

"Yeah, but I hair grows fast so it was this length by the time school started."

"How do you keep it short?"

"Severing spells. Its annoying, but I'm not going to mess with those hair-controlling potions because they have so many weird side effects. I can't afford to show up to school one day only able to communicate in bird noises."

Harry snickered. "That would shake up everyone's day."

"Yeah."

They sighed at the same time, amusing the busy Aby, and wondered how they would get rid of her or distract her so they could have some alone-time.

"Hey, Aby, do you want to go downstairs and see if there is any breakfast?"

"Okay!" She chirped, getting off the bed and scampering out the door. The second it shut behind her, Dean grabbed Harry's shoulder, angled himself, and kissed him lightly, attempting to pull back a second later but failing when Harry decided to respond by holding the back of his head still.

A moment later Harry separated them, grinning, and took deep breaths to prepare for the next one. "You don't mind, do you?"

"No." Dean gasped out, diving back in and rubbing the spot between Harry's shoulder blades affectionately. "Do you eat?"

Harry bit his earlobe. "Of course I eat. Why'd you ask?" Dean pecked his mouth.

"It's just that your bones jut out. It's cool 'because I've never seen someone with your body type close up before, but I am a little worried."

"Well, stop worrying because I eat whether I want to or not. Sometimes I forget, but my friends remind me so it's no big deal."

"Okay, okay, I'm not trying to pick a fight." Harry sighed. "I know, and I'm sorry for raising my voice like that." He kissed Dean's nose. "Am I forgiven?"

"Heh, sure." He wanted to ask if Harry kissing him and letting him kiss him back meant that they were boyfriends or something, but what if Harry said no or was just experimenting and got freaked out?

Instead of thinking about it anymore, he wrapped his arms around Harry's hips and softly kissed his lower lip. Harry got the hint and dropped his semi-antagonistic posture that he'd assumed while Dean had been questioning him, sighing a little and making a conscious effort to block the persistent wish to open his eyes and see yellow instead of brown.

Little did he know that Asmodeus was thinking the exact same thing while Sylvi slid into his lap and smoothed her hands through his hair, her hands feeling cold and hard like marble instead of Harry's soft fingers and sometimes sweaty palms. Harry's nervousness, while frustrating sometimes, had been adorable and a new experience for him. He missed it, especially now that this brash Vampire woman had taken the time to court him when he knew she was supposed to be babysitting the Lovegood girl. Her only excuse was that Raphael was with her right now and she might as well take a break.

She made a playful smack noise when she broke the kiss, taking a drag of her cigarette that she had tucked behind her ear. She not only smelled like foul Human smoke, she tasted like it. But what could he say? He was lonely and Levi wasn't going to talk to him; Harry was a lost cause for now, and he knew that if he were to try and beg forgiveness again, Harry would most likely kick him in the face.

"Sylvi, can't you stub that thing out?"

"But it's still got some good nicotine left in it!"

"I can see that, but can't you stop for at a few minutes while we're together like this."

She stared a moment, shrugged, and stubbed it out. His shirt that she had stolen slid off one shoulder and he smiled, touching her cold but flawless skin in admiration. She may be a heartless bitch, but she was a work of art and currently the only being who wanted to talk to him. Even if he had to have sex with her to keep her around.

--

Harry waved goodbye to Mrs. Thomas, Aby held in her arms and sobbing her little eyes out. He had promised to write her, even though she would need help to write back, and given her half his chocolate from Daphne.

The train was crowded and too-hot, but it was better than the cold outside. Muggle London was something else in terms of how cold it could get. Shivering, he shuffled behind Dean down the packed hallway, looking for an open compartment. "Ah, found one!" Dean called triumphantly, grabbing Harry's hand and guiding him inside. He closed the door behind them while Harry stowed his bag and was half-way through doing Dean's when Dean came over and helped his heft it up onto the racks above their seats.

Harry smiled and moved to sit down but Dean maneuvered himself behind him in a quick move that made Harry squeak when he landed on top of him. "Oh, I'm sorry! I thought you were sitting-"

"Right underneath you."

Harry smiled shyly, but didn't make a move to get away. "So, hehe, what do we say when someone barges in?"

"That they can piss off if they mind, of course." He kissed Harry's flushed cheek, catching the corner of his mouth accidentally-on-purpose, hoping against hope that this meant Harry considered them to be in a relationship. At first he had thought that he would be okay if Harry turned out to be just messing around with him, but now he didn't think he could stand it if he was. The time had come to speak up.

"Um, Harry?"

"Yes, Dean?"

"Can I ask you a question? And can you please not get angry until I'm finished?"

"Sure." Harry chirped, moving so he was sitting across Dean's legs and able to wrap his arms casually around his neck. "You can ask me anything."

"Okay." He took a deep breath. "Are we, you know, together?"

"Together as in boyfriends?"

Dean coughed, the word not having occurred to him. It made him blush a little; he liked thinking of Harry as his boyfriend. "Y-yeah."

"Well, I think we are. Do _you_ think we're boyfriends?"

"Yes." His throat was dry when Harry smiled the softest smile he had ever seen on his face, lips curving up and showing just a thin sliver of teeth. He bent his head down and kissed him gently on the mouth. "Then I guess that means we're boyfriends now." He said against his lips, pressing their foreheads together.

Someone knocked on the compartment door.

--

End chapter 66

Hey, anybody who was surprised/pissed at the Asmy/Sylvi can feel free to give me their opinion. And yes, she is going to make him miserable. That's the whole point; the bastard deserves it.


	67. Chapter 67

CHAPTER 67

Harry looked questioningly at Dean, then down at where his legs swung back and forth a little across his lap. Dean blushed and moved so Harry could get off of him before he called, "Come in!"

The door burst open and Daphne skidded inside, her arms overflowing with chocolate frogs that seemed to be…vomiting whipped cream inside their boxes. Harry stared and she just grinned at them, plopping down across from them and letting the boxes arrange themselves in some semblance of order with a quick spell.

"Want one?" She tore open the wrapping of one box with her teeth, biting off the creamy head of the frog with relish.

"Um, what are they and where did you get them?"

"Oh, they _were _normal chocolate frogs, but I altered them, and I personally think it was for the better. They're so stuffed with cream that they can't keep it all inside, hence the vomiting. Doesn't taste like vomit, though. Tastes like the yummy cream it is."

"Okay. I'll eat one, but I swear, if this is jinxed and you're having me on, I won't let you see any of my notes for a week."

"Aye, aye!" She handed him one and he carefully opened the wrapper, licking off the cream that had gotten on it from the queasy chocolate treat.

"You were right; this is really good!" He bit off a leg and handed the rest to Dean with a smile. Dean was a bit more hesitant about eating something from a possibly deranged Slytherin girl, but Harry was eating it so-

He took a cautious bite, and then moaned. "Oh my god, this is so good! What kind of cream is this?"

"Uh, whipped? Not sure what brand, but it was the best one I'd ever had so I just magicked it inside the frogs tummies and voila! Instant treat, with a fresh new twist."

In between bites of his third frog, Harry grumbled, "You sound like one of those crass salespeople that stoop to hitting on old ladies to get them to buy stuff they don't need."

"Shut up. I can talk however I want, you sexist!"

"The hell does sexism have to do with this?" Harry laughed, viciously eating the head of a squirming frog before it could escape to be sick in the bathroom.

"Everything!" Daphne attempted to shriek, but giggled half-way through and nearly fell off the bench when the train lurched suddenly, moving slowly away from the station and towards the school.

There was another knock on the door, but far more timid.

"Enter!" Daphne answered, grabbing a chocolate frog but not opening it. Seamus opened the door a crack and peeked around it, scanning the occupants until he spotted Dean. "Dean! What are you doing in here?" He hissed, beckoning with a finger as a clear command for Dean to join him in some alternate location.

Daphne threw the frog at his head.

"What's this?" He asked, this time not whispering.

"It's like a chocolate frog, only better." Daphne smirked, taking a swig from a bottle missing its label that she'd dug out of her purse. Harry's sharp nose picked up the scent of green tea and he gave her a pleading look. She sighed, but passed it and he took a sip, savoring it. There was nothing like hot tea when it was freezing outside.

"Uh-huh."

"What? You don't trust me?" Daphne whined, knowing that it would make her sound really obnoxious and possibly coerce the Gryffindor into eating it to make her shut up.

"God, fine! I'll eat it!" He yelled, tearing open the wrapper and somehow stuffing the whole thing in his mouth. His eyes went wide, and he swallowed.

"That was…"

"That was?" Daphne's lips upturned in a smug little smile.

"Good."

"Just good?"

"Okay, really good!"

"just really-"

"Daphne, shut up." Harry intervened, patting her knee. She scowled and smacked his hand, slouching into the bench and putting her muddy boots up on the seat across from her where Harry had been sitting. Seamus glared and sat down next to them.

"So Dean, what are you doing in here?"

"Oh, just spending time with my boyfriend."

Seamus choked on his chocolate. "You finally got one? Where is he?"

"Right here, Finnegan." Harry said dryly, offering his hand to shake while Daphne stared at him wide-eyed.

"You bastard! How dare you take my chocolate, and even dare to touch me when you've been so despicable as to not tell me about this! Our friendship is over, dammit!"

"Now, now, Daphne, no need to be so drastic-"

"Drastic? Drastic?! The only drastic thing here is you, who has never even gone on a single date before, not telling me about something as monumental as this."

"I was going to tell you later."

"Oh yeah? When? The end of the semester, eh?"

"No, at the Feast where everyone would get to hear the whole story at the same time."

She coughed, looking cowed. "Oh. Heh, sorry."

"It's no problem. I'd have done the same thing. Okay, no I wouldn't, but you know what I mean."

"Yeah, I think I do. So…how was your Christmas with lover boy?" She leered at Dean, who blushed furiously and attempted to make himself as small as possible.

"Daphne, you're scaring him. Nobody is allowed to scare him but me."

Seamus hadn't said anything, looking like he was in shock. But now he decided to join the living and speak up. "You're…dating a Slytherin?"

"Yep. You got a problem with that?"

"Uh, kind of."

Dean crossed his arms, feeling very disappointed in his friend. "Then you will have to decide which is more important: me, your best friend for the past 6 years, or your house loyalty. Don't talk to me until you have because I won't stand by and let you badmouth Harry."

Seamus silently rose and left the compartment. In the awkward silence that descended, Harry softly hugged Dean's side and smiled a little when Daphne whistled and said, "Ouch."

--

End chapter 67


	68. Chapter 68

CHAPTER 68

Sprawled on the library floor, under a table, Harry bit into his pumpkin pastry and wondered how the Christmas Feast was going. Well, it wasn't really Christmas, but they called it that because it sounded better than 'winter feast' or 'welcome back feast'.

Dean mumbled something in his sleep and buried his face under Harry's arm, curling his legs into a new position. They had decided to leave the Feast early after Harry had broken the news of his new, and supposedly first, relationship to his friends. None of them had reacted too badly, although Vincent Crabbe did mutter something about Gryffindors being unreliable partners, but Harry knew that he wouldn't do anything to hurt Dean so he didn't call him on it.

And somehow they'd ended up in the library, Harry helping Dean with the last paper they had gotten distracted writing at his house, the end result being smeared ink and Harry flat on his back on Dean's bedroom carpet, obtaining a noticeable love bite on his collar bone.

He blushed and crossed out a bit of incorrect grammar, neatly penciling in the correct term for Dean to re-write later, when he woke up. "Mmm…love the way you smell…" So maybe Dean was awake now.

"Dean?"

"Hmm?"

"You talk in your sleep."

"Do I? Did I say something embarrassing?" He giggled immaturely and Harry smiled, tapping his nose and replying, "Not really, no. just thought you should know that lovely little detail about yourself."

"Well, I would like to inform you that you are very cuddly when you're asleep. Like a girl."

Harry flushed and scooted away. "I do not!"

"Do too. The first night you practically strangled me."

"I did?" Harry gasped, horrified. What if he really had strangled him? He would never forgive himself!

"Nah, but you were holding on pretty tightly. But no worries; I liked it."

"Oh, good. I don't think people can change their sleeping habits, so it would be bad if I had something so horrible as an automatic strangulation move."

"Heh, yeah. It would still be worth the risk sleeping with you, though."

"Aww, how sweet!" A new voice cooed unexpectedly. Their heads snapped towards it and Harry glowered at Blaise and Draco, the blonde's smirk giving away his guilt.

"Whats the matter Draco? Pansy not good enough company for you?" Harry teased, sticking out his tongue when Draco mock-gasped.

"Your cruelty burns me to the quick!"

"Don't you mean cuts you to the quick?" Blaise muttered out of the corner of his mouth.

"Oh, whatever! It's a Muggle saying anyway- since when do I ever get those right?"

"True." Blaise crawled under the table and stretched himself out, his head comfortably pillowed in the dip Harry's back made from the way he had propped himself up on his elbows. Draco deigned to join them as well, choosing to sit with his back propped up against a table leg. He leered at Dean. "So, is Harry as much of a prude as he looks?"

Harry gasped. "I am most certainly _not _a prude, damn you!"

"Sore subject?" Blaise innocently asked, rubbing head back and forth in a strange sort of massage on the tense muscles of Harry's lower back.

"Sort of. I don't want to talk about it…" He shouldn't be thinking about if Asmodeus would have still cheated on him if he hadn't been so damn self-conscious, he should be thinking about Dean and how to make him happy since Dean was his boyfriend now and if he was lucky, he would never see Asmodeus' too-handsome face ever again, no matter how depressing that thought was.

"Oh, Harry, I'm sorry. I didn't know- I didn't mean to-"

"It's okay Blaise. How could you have known?" Harry craned his neck and smiled at him, trying not to look at the vaguely hurt expression that had fluttered across Dean's face before he hid it. He guessed that the Gryffindor had assumed that he was Harry's first, and hadn't been expecting to be proven wrong. He wondered if he should apologize, but then he thought that that would just make it worse. How do you apologize for something you don't regret? He could never truthfully say that he had never loved Asmodeus or that the Demon had never made him feel insanely happy and safe.

"I have to go to the bathroom. Be right back" He rose with a smile, dislodging both Blaise and Dean, who grumbled while Dean rolled over to nestle in the body heat stored in the carpet from Harry, briefly inhaling his smell that was also there.

Moving at a regular pace while they could still see him, he broke into a run once out of sight, skidding down the hall and almost bowling over a petite Ravenclaw with her nose in a book. Entering the nearest loo, he picked the stall on the end and locked the door behind him, leaning against it and taking deep gasping breaths as his mind assaulted him with all the beautiful days he had shared with Asmodeus, and how the knowledge that a Creature not designed to even understand what love was could feel it so strongly for him.

"Why?" He whispered. "Why did you do it? was I not good enough?" He hoped no one would come in and hear him crying, because now his throat was tight and his eyes burning as the skin of his face stretched into an expression of agony. "Damn you for making me feel like this!" He punched the wall, banging his fist several times into the door supporting him as well. He supposed that this was all a delayed reaction to the abandonment he had suffered, even though he hoped that Dean would heal his heart.

He wondered if the Gryffindor loved him.

--

Darlene hummed happily; red hair swishing as she moved around her office, a stack of papers under her arm that she was sorting into various files. It was the last stack of the afternoon, and soon she could go out to tea and meet up with Raphael. His note had said that he needed a woman's point of view for the advice he required, which meant one of two things. He had gotten another Human woman pregnant, which hadn't happened in a couple hundred years now so it was likely, or he had actually found someone he was able to feel more than platonic or lustful affection for. She desperately hoped it was the latter despite her lingering crush on him.

Stuffing the last one in its cheap paper folder, she slammed the metal cabinet closed and sprinted out the door, yelling a hasty goodbye to her befuddled boss, who plaintively held out his empty coffee cup. "Sorry, John! I've got someone to meet for tea that could literally chop me up and use me for organ replacement surgery if I'm late!"

"Oh, you're meeting Raphael?"

She paused in the act of pulling on her pea coat. "You know him?"

"Yeah, I've met the bastard. He works sometimes with my boyfriend."

She blinked. "Oh, that boyfriend." He snickered. "I'll tell him you forgot about us."

"Jerk." She grinned, tucked her scarf securely around her neck, and vanished. John waved a hand in front of his face, trying to prevent himself from inhaling the smoke. The last he needed was lung cancer.

--

She landed in the women's restroom of the tiny Muggle London pub coffee shop she'd chosen to meet the Archangel at, smoothed her hair, and sauntered out to try and find a head of blonde hair amongst the other patrons, most of whom were either over the age of 60 and female or dodgy-looking young men. Raphael stood out like the beacon of light he certainly wasn't, gulping tea and with both long legs propped up on a neighboring table. The winking old ladies apparently did not mind at all.

"What's up, doc?" She sat in the creaky wicker chair provided, wishing she had ordered tea before coming over here. Paperwork made her thirsty.

"I'm, uh, having some difficulties with something."

"Uh-huh." She took a sip of his tea without him caring (he may not have looked like he noticed, but she could tell from years of knowing him that he knew the precise moment the thought had entered her head), crossing her legs and causing her skirt to bunch up a bit, revealing a good amount of nylon-clad leg to the surrounding patrons. Several of the mafia-wannabes ogled it, spilling tea on themselves.

"And, since you are both female, I figured that you might have a vague idea of how to translate a certain person's actions."

"Okay. Do I know this person?"

"Um, I don't know. Maybe?"

She sighed. "What's her name?"

"Luna, and I could have sworn that she's been flirting with me, but at the same time I have to consider the ridiculously old age requirements of today, her background and current employment, and the playfulness of youth."

"How old is this Luna girl?"

"She turned fifteen a couple months back."

"Ah. Tricky age, that one."

"Yes…so, do you have any advice on how to see if she's serious or just confused or even, god forbid, playing with me?"

"The best way to find out is to ask, as embarrassing as that may be. My other option for you would be taking a more aggressive approach to 'romance' and seeing how she reacts."

"Alright. Thanks for meeting me here on such short notice and for such a ridiculous reason. And yes, you can have the rest of my tea- I need to get back to my practice before that new boy I hired blows up the building."

"You do that." She grinned and slid into the cushy booth where he'd been sitting, settling into the spot where his body heat was still warming the beat up synthetic fabric. It was bloody cold out and she could use every bit of heat she could find.

--

End chapter 68

(squeal)


	69. Chapter 69

CHAPTER 69

The sky was boring to look at, so Harry turned his head and stared at Pansy instead. She felt it, and met his gaze. "What's up?" She whispered. They were in a mandatory Astronomy class that was for everyone, even those who hadn't signed up for it. Some sort of weird eclipse or something last he'd checked…he hadn't really been paying attention when it was announced since Dean had been sitting beside him at lunch and acquainting his hand with his thigh, particularly the upper areas.

He discovered that there was a small spot on his hip that was ticklish.

"Nothing." He mouthed back.

"Then stop looking at me, you creep." She grinned and poked him in the ribs. It was still another half hour before the eclipse occurred on the moon shining peaceful and full above their heads, and Harry desperately wished that they hadn't divided the classes into Houses in different towers. If they hadn't done that, he could be lying here on this lumpy mat next to Dean and 'talking'. His mouth tingled a little at the thought and he was very happy that there were no lights on because he was blushing.

"Stupid eclipse…" Pansy muttered beside him, shifting restlessly and smoothing down her uniform skirt so it wouldn't ride up and show anything it shouldn't to Draco, who was paying rapt attention to her every move. She stuck her tongue out at him and he scowled, mouthing, "Tease."

Harry ran a hand over his eyes, clearing them, and began to pick out constellations he remembered from first and second year when he actually took this class, and then some other ones he had encountered while studying other things.

"It's starting!" the professor called out, and the children quieted, staring into the sky as the moon began to be covered by the shadow of the Earth. It was beautiful.

When it was finished and the moon began to reappear again, Harry rolled onto his side and smirked at Blaise, who had been on his other side. "Wasn't that cool?"

"Yeah. I used to watch stuff like this with my mum in our attic."

"Whoa, really? Your mum must be pretty cool, letting you stay up so late."

"She is. Still made me eat vegetables though."

Harry blinked. "Blaise, you barely eat anything besides salads and the occasional piece of chocolate cake. It couldn't have been so bad-"

Blaise grinned. "She brainwashed me into liking them." From the light in his eyes Harry could tell he was joking. Blaise always had had a funny sense of humor. Harry tweaked his hair, which he had decided to spell into cornrows today, and murmured, "Do you think this would look good on me?"

"Pfft, no!" When Harry pouted, he amended, "Not your whole head like mine because of the way your skull is shaped. Just a few inches past your forehead would be cool though, and plus it would keep your hair out of your mouth and eyes."

"Well, then it would certainly be an improvement. My damn hair thinks it can boss me around."

"We'll just have to teach it a lesson then." Blaise grinned. "Meet me after class in that one alcove of the library where your friend Luna hangs out. She did mine."

"Really? I didn't know she did cornrows too…"

"What do you mean too?"

"She's our braiding queen. Remember that one time when all the girls went nuts and braided their hair like crazy?"

"Yeah; some of the stuff they came up with looked kind of cool."

"That was Luna's doing. She taught them all how to do all of these weird braids and victimized any guy with long hair, but I didn't know she could do cornrows although I should have guessed. Heh..."

"Having a stupid day?" Pansy innocently asked, obviously listening in.

"What are you talking about? I'm not capable of being stupid." Harry craned his neck to glare at her. She scooted onto his mat so she could look over his head (at least he was finally taller than her) and adequately join in the conversation. "You guys mind if I tag along?"

"Yes." Blaise growled, still not having forgiven her for spelling the showerhead he always used (he was too disturbed to find out how she knew that) to spew freezing water no matter how many heating spells he used.

"Aww, but Blaise-"

"Save it." He rolled onto his other side just as the lights went on, effectively blinding everyone who was still looking at the sky.

"Alright, I expect all of you to be responsible and return to your dormitories immediately!" Their professor struggled to make herself heard over the bustling of the children and noisy chatter. She gave up, rubbing a hand over her eyes and grabbed her teacher's satchel and headed off to the teacher's lounge, where she knew the other teachers would still be up and drinking themselves into a stupor since tomorrow was Saturday and not a Hogsmeade weekend, thus giving them the time to sleep off their hangovers in peace.

Blaise grabbed Harry's arm and dragged him out of the crowd obediently returning to their dorms, leading him towards the library. Being aware of their teacher's Friday night tradition and knowing that the Prefects would have their hands full dealing with the younger children, they didn't bother to be quiet or stick to the shadows. Arriving at the impressive double doors, Harry took the lead and moved swiftly through the organized bookshelves until they came to the older ones that few used anymore, still in the same arrangement they'd been when all four of the Founders still breathed. The dust had been heavy when he and Luna had stumbled across it earlier this year late at night, but now there were only a few sections that they hadn't meticulously cleaned. They just cast a cleaning charm whenever they were there or in a new section so slowly but surely they restored it.

He spotted the alcove where she almost always was at this time, finishing up her homework before leaving to ply her trade in the midnight streets, but it was not so tonight.

"Dammit!" He hissed. The one night she decided to work early and neglect to tell him had to be tonight, didn't it?

"Here, maybe I can try to do it- I used to know how when I was little but I haven't done it in a really long time."

"Sure. What have I got to lose?" Harry grinned and sat down on the cozy padded bench tucked into the alcove, angling his head where Blaise's hands guided it so he could get the best angle.

He snickered.

"What's so funny?" Blaise asked, tugging harshly on his hair by accident and trying to remember if there were any spells that would be compatible with Harry's hair texture, since the temporary one he used on himself sometimes that would last a few days was geared for thicker hair.

"I was just thinking about this."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, who does this? In the middle of the night, in an abandoned area of the library, braiding hair? It just sounds funny to me."

"Hn."

From a corner where he had previously been staring open-mouthed at a document signed with an elaborate red seal spelling out 'Godric Gryffindor III' nailed to the wall, Dean jealously eyed the Slytherin who was daring to touch Harry's hair. It was obviously a ploy to steal him away from him!

He wondered if Blaise was Harry's last boyfriend. Judging from how buddy-buddy they were right now, he would say that he had a good chance of being right. One thing was clear in his mind as he watched Blaise alter the spell with Harry's help and successfully shape the first two inches of his hair framing his forehead into neat braids. He would be keeping an eye on Zabini if it was the last thing he did. Or he could be more assertive and claim Harry as his in a more…physical manner.

--

"Hey, Harry!" Harry turned around at the sound of his boyfriend's voice, grinning and coming over to kiss his cheek like he did most mornings. Remembering what he had decided last night, Dean made sure to turn his head and kiss Harry's mouth firmly. Harry froze a second before responding happily.

"Aren't you friendly today." He laughed, pecked him again on the mouth and led him over to the breakfast table. Most of the professors were absent from the Head Table, and judging from the more-than-usual pinched look on the Headmistress' face, she had been witness to their drunken antics the night before and felt no pity for them.

"Yeah, well, you deserve to be appreciated." He casually put an arm around Harry's waist, grabbing a plate and handing Harry the blackberry preserves when he asked for them. Seamus, recovered from his Green House hate, was already seated at the Slytherin table and helping himself to the kippers. He raised an eyebrow when he picked up on the possessive air around Dean this morning, wondering if somebody had hit on Harry or something and now Dean was feeling threatened. This had happened a couple of times when Dean was dating Ginny Weasley last year, and it hadn't been pretty. Harry looked like he could handle it though, so he kept his mouth shut and took a sip of pumpkin juice, eyes going wide when he noted Harry's black coffee. No matter how delicious everything House Elves made, he doubted they could accomplish the feat of making black coffee taste like anything other than Muggle acid.

"You, uh, gonna put anything in that?" He gestured with a piece of toast to Harry's steaming mug.

"Nope." Harry chirped, picking it up even though it looked hot enough to burn the flesh from his skin, and swallowed half of it in one gulp. Even Dean looked startled, pausing mid-chew of his muffin to ogle Harry as he took a deep breath and then finished off the rest. "Nothing like fresh coffee in the morning."

Daphne slumped into the empty spot on Seamus' left that had been vacated by Vincent Crabbe a few minutes ago, looking like death warmed over.

"Oh god, I knew I shouldn't have had that last drink last night." She moaned, resting her head into her folded arms to block out the sunlight. Harry wordlessly filled a mug with coffee for her, dumping in copious amounts of sugar so her delicate taste buds could handle it, digging around in his book bag that he still lugged around even though it wasn't a day they had classes on, locating a hangover potion Luna had designed to have no nasty aftertaste. He added it to the coffee and passed it to her, letting the scent waft under her nostrils.

"Thanks, luv." She sat up straight and knocked back the mixture like it was a shot, heaving for breath when she swallowed it. "God, that's nasty!"

"I'm sure it's a better alternative to what you had before." Harry snarked, giggling when she swatted at him.

Dean was thrown. Maybe Harry had been dating Daphne before and not Blaise?

--

End chapter 69

(cough) Ariaeris, the muffin reference was for you :D


	70. Chapter 70

CHAPTER 70

"Hey, come with me for a little while." Dean beckoned Harry as he exited his Potions class, a sly smile on his lips that Harry recognized all too well.

"Oh, I don't know…thanks to you I'm failing Arithmancy and I really don't think I can afford to miss it again this week-"

"Is school more important than me?" Dean teased, daring to hold Harry's hand now that there were less people in the hall to gape at them. Two boys dating was not common, and Harry had grown sick of the gossiping and bizarre attitude from some Muggleborn students when he tried to sit next to them in class or even accidentally brushed against him. He was shy about public displays of affection anyway, so he didn't mind keeping things private until the hype died down.

"No, but I don't want to fail any of my finals this year. I never have in the past and it would bother me a lot if I failed something."

"I know this older student who is really good at Arithmancy. She wouldn't mind tutoring you if I asked her…and besides, I can't imagine anyone not liking you to the point of refusing to tutor you."

"You have an answer for everything today; since you seem so keen on spending time with me, I suppose I could cut class just one last time for your sake, but I swear this is the last time its going to happen-" They had been walking down to the unused sections of the Castle, Harry following Dean's lead, and he cut him off by suddenly pushing him into the wall and connecting their mouths briefly.

"Oh, I see." Harry smirked, leaning down and rubbing his nose against Dean's cheekbone, licking off a fleck of sugar from a 'quill' the other boy must have consumed during his last class. Dean sighed and ran his fingers up and down Harry's sides, burying his face in Harry's neck and gently kissing it. he had tried to turn his jealously into more aggressive passes at Harry, but when his boyfriend responded, his knees melted and his will to lead was taken out from under him much like he felt the ground was sometimes.

"I missed you at breakfast." He whispered, carefully moving his fingers down Harry's bumpy spine and smiling when Harry shivered at the sensation.

"Yeah, sorry about skipping it. I was up late last night studying." Dean's eyes narrowed when he remembered how much time Harry spent studying with Draco. Draco may have been dating Pansy, but he wouldn't put it past anyone to lay their hands on Harry should the chance present itself, and studying late at night in a private dorm surrounded by your sleeping dorm mates would be a perfect opportunity.

His paranoia was silenced when Harry shifted his thigh to press against his, and sighed. Harry was very warm, and even though the spring meant the thawing of the thick ice covering everything, he welcomed it and sighed happily.

"I don't want to move." Harry mumbled, hugging Dean tightly. "You're more comfortable than my bed."

Dean snickered. "Then you'll just have to sleep on me while I sleep on your bed, then."

"Sounds good to me." He silenced the voice inside of him that cried ceaselessly, reawakened by the memories of many lazy summer mornings lying in bed naked because clothes were too cumbersome, feeling so happy that he couldn't breathe. and even though he could breathe now, the air was poisonous and he hated feeling the way he did because it was unfair to Dean…so unfair. He never should have responded to the Gryffindor's tentative courtship, even if it was a welcome distraction from hiding behind a mask of normalcy, since his heart could never truly be in it. but it was certainly too late now, since telling Dean the 'it's not you, it's me' speech after only a scant few months of dating and without reason would just hurt the Gryffindor more than knowing that Harry didn't love him. If he knew that, he would just think that he could win him over in the future. And who knew? Maybe he could. He was, after all, perfectly nice and interesting too which wasn't common. Not to mention that Harry had yet to find a single physical flaw that bothered him, even though he didn't actually believe in the word 'ugly'. He just believed that you look how you look and since there was nothing you could do about it, you'd better start liking the face you see in the mirror since that would be the one you'd have for the rest of your life.

His mental rabbit trails were quickly burnt when Dean decided to take advantage of their remaining fifteen minutes before class started by licking Harry's ear. He hadn't tried it before, even though Seamus had tipped him off about it being generally appreciated, and hoped Harry wouldn't think it was weird. Harry giggled a little bit, sounding disturbingly like his sister Aby, and said, "That's new."

No it wasn't. But he would pretend it was for Dean's sake. He smiled when Dean tried it again, a little surer this time now that he wasn't afraid of rejection, and Harry turned his head to bite gently at his jaw that was still a little round with baby fat.

"You gonna kiss me or just my ear?" He playfully asked, nipping a little harder than he meant to at his neck and inducing a startled yelp. "Whoops. Sorry about that, luv."

"No problem." Dean replied somewhat hoarsely. Harry's teeth had made this sort of jolt go through him, and it had nothing to do with pain and had almost driven his adolescent and easily-excited body over the edge, which would mean it would be the first time he orgasmed in front of another person since Ginny had been an absolute prude and Ron had made some vague but very scary threats involving his man junk and a meat mallet, the kind made of heavy steel and spikes.

He didn't have a masochistic streak for biting, did he?

Meanwhile, Harry felt exactly what his bite had done to Dean since his thigh was pushed in an area that updated him instantly to his condition. He could barely restrain a smirk, the side of him that had made Asmodeus label him an 'insufferable, insatiable tease' surfacing and inducing him to sway slightly, innocently moving his thigh over an area that was still paying a lot of attention to his actions. He bit again, this time even harder and right on a thick vein. It throbbed in his mouth and he desperately wanted to bite down harder so the skin would burst and fill his mouth with-

'Stop right there' he commanded himself, stilling his sharper teeth from fulfilling his desire. This was not about him- this was about making Dean happy and possibly bringing him off in the process. He'd gotten pretty close himself over Christmas, but that had been almost two months ago and at the very least he wanted to give Dean a little something.

He gnawed on the flesh between his teeth carefully, moving his hands up and down Dean's tense arms. "Ah, Harry, what are you-" Dean tried to ask between gasps, failing and just giving him in to the sudden influx of emotions and sensations Harry had decided to give him.

"Did you say something?" Harry purred, nibbling his ear lobe and kissing it lightly afterwards. Dean made an unintelligible noise but managed to shake his head. "'kay."

He focused on finding the one spot that would connect all the major veins, since it would most likely be the thing to send Dean over, and he grinned when he finally located it, one hand rubbing along Dean's collarbone and admiring the buttery texture of his skin. "Your skin is really soft." He mumbled, kissing the space where his neck ended in a v-shaped dip and using a finger to rub circles on the space he would attack in just a moment.

"Thanks. So do you..." He stroked Harry's lower back after getting his hands up his shirt.

"Aren't you sweet?" Harry teased before sinking his teeth into Dean's neck, finally bowing to his blood lust and breaking the skin for the first time. He moaned when thick, syrupy red liquid slid into his mouth in big drops, moving a hand down Dean's chest so he would enjoy it too, not stopping at his belt like he had in the past. A few light strokes and some very intense sucking of his neck were all it took for a strange but quiet noise to come out of Dean's throat as his back arched a bit, thrusting his hips into Harry's hand through his trousers, before he went boneless. Harry was happy he was taller than him, even if Dean was about twice as thick as him, since he could support him just barely.

He removed his mouth from his neck before he did any serious damage and dug his wand out of his pocket to cast a quick healing charm on the twin holes in his neck. Dean stirred in his arms, murmuring something and wrapping his arms tightly around Harry. It was a very possessive move, and it made Harry smile.

It looked like he was going to be missing more than Arithmancy today as he settled them on the ground of the hallway, stroking Dean's hair gently. He'd cut it again and there was very little, but it still felt cool on his hands.

--

Raphael sighed when Luna wandered back into his room/office after showering, the disgusting but undetectable to most humans scent of sex missing. He couldn't stand it when he came across her, usually after midnight, and she reeked of it and alcohol. He didn't mind the liquor nearly as much even though he worried about people taking advantage of her addled state and not compensating her properly. He had almost had to bathe her himself, but she had woken up in his car as he drove her to his house and insisted on going home. He'd only convinced her to wash up with reminding her that her plumbing was still broken and she wouldn't be able to clean herself off at home for school tomorrow.

She came up behind him, and he pretended he didn't know she was there even though he could hear her steady and thankfully healthy heartbeat drumming against his ears comfortingly. She leaned over him until he couldn't realistically pretend that he couldn't see her, and before he could say anything she kissed him lightly.

"Thank you." She whispered, not moving her lips from their place barely resting against his own. He smiled without showing his teeth and said, "No problem. I could never resist rescuing a damsel in distress."

"Yeah, well, I still want you to know that I'm grateful." She moved away, brushing her mouth against his forehead too, and sat on the floor at his feet, resting her head against his knee. "I don't know what I'd do without you watching out for me. Kind of like a guardian Angel. You know Raphael is the name of an Angel, right? I thought it was cool, because now your name really seems to fit even more." There was sharpness in her eyes, and he would have flinched if he had been a lesser man.

"I'm glad you feel that way." He replied, keeping his voice neutral. He decided to risk it and petted her damp hair, impressed with the still-intact braids. They had been slick with grease when he'd found her, but now they were fuzzy from the shampoo stiffening the fibers. She hummed lightly and let him stoke her for a few minutes, liking the mood he was in. it was nice to do this sometimes, late at night and with nobody else around for her to take care of. She had been taking care of her father and the rest of her family for so long and at such a young age that she could barely remember the times when her mother had been alive and it had been the other way around. Funny how her peers were still mollycoddled when she had forced into adulthood before even puberty had had a chance to strike.

She liked the way he took care of her, treating her in a combination of what girls her age should and also altered a bit to accommodate her lack of childishness and unique perspective of the way people really worked inside when you took away all the masks and reached the dirty bottom of it all, where the sick things were.

But she had stayed here long enough. She needed to sleep soon or else she wouldn't make it through the day tomorrow and- she could feel her heart rate speeding up as she remembered all the things she needed to deal with.

Her thoughts stuttered to a halt when his hand moved gently over her forehead, thumb rubbing broad circles over the too-pale flesh. She couldn't help leaning into it as he soothed away a headache she hadn't realized she'd had.

"Raphael, I need to go soon. 'm sleepy, an' I have school…" She mumbled, words muffled as she slumped against his leg, completely exhausted both from life in general and the multiple rounds a high-paying customer had requested from her this evening. At least he had shelled out the cash for a quality hotel room instead of just doing her against an alley wall somewhere or in the back room of a pub like most did.

"You can sleep here tonight." It wasn't an offer and she sensed that, deciding not to argue since he could be remarkably stubborn.

"M'kay."

"Here-" He stood, resting a hand against her head where she had been leaning most of her weight on him, hefting her up and crossing the few feet to his bed in a stride. He set her down carefully, not wanting to jostle her pelvis since he could guess that it had to be at least a little sore right now. She was already dressed in one of his sleep shirts, so he tucked her under the covers and switched off the overhead light, choosing to work through the rest of his reports and medical updates by the soft glow of his new computer monitor.

He wondered if Luna would mind him sharing the bed with her since the couch was drafty and it was already freezing in his living room. His crappy apartment didn't have insulation or proper heating, so there was a strong chance of his weak Human body contracting a 'cold' if he didn't spend the night in the comfort of his own bed.

She was probably more than used to sharing beds with strangers, he reasoned, so why would she mind him? Finishing his work, he took off his socks while his computer shut down, crawling in beside her in the pitch dark and stubbing his toe on a textbook along the way.

"Ow, dammit…"

--

End chapter 70

OMG! Stuff happened! This calls for reviews, you know  and as always, I would like to thank those of you who actually take the time to review almost every chapter. It's a massive effort and it fills me with such joy and happiness and mushy-mush crap like that. It's not healthy, but I like it!


	71. Chapter 71

CHAPTER 71

Waking up to the unpleasant sensation of hair in his mouth, Raphael irritably moved his head in a sort of toss, trying to get it out without actually removing his hands from their comfy spots under the coverlet. Had he forgotten to tie his hair back last night?

Someone made a sort of sighing noise, and he didn't recollect having two extra legs. Blinking his eyes open, he rubbed the sleepiness from his eyes and rubbed the back of his head to discover that his hair was braided just as he had thought. Whoever the other two legs belonged to stirred, rubbing one of them along his calf in an unconsciously sensuous way and nuzzling his shoulder. "So it's going to be one of _those _mornings…" he muttered, looking down at whoever it was and choking a little bit when his eyes met Luna's straight on. They both froze, and then simultaneously wrestled themselves out of the covers to see if they were still wearing clothes, and he sighed in relief when he saw that he had not accidentally debauched the object of his affections in some sort of drunken state. She looked disappointed, which he took as a good sign because it meant that he might have some hope for the future.

"Um?"

"Good morning!" He chirped, feeling stupid right afterwards. She grinned at him, poked his cheek, and went into the bathroom to find her clothes where they had dried over night after he had spot-cleaned them for her.

Re-entering fully dressed while he still had half his buttons to do up and missing pants, she laughed and replied to his earlier comment, "Good morning to you too, sugar."

"Yeah, yeah; turn around already, you pervert."

"Says the lecher to his protégé." She muttered, but she did turn around and go into the kitchenette to make some coffee for them both. She was more in the mood for tea, but she really needed the caffeine since it was 5 in the morning and she still needed to run some early morning errands before rushing back to school before Filch caught her at the outskirts of the grounds again.

He joined her a moment later, smoothing his tie and unbraiding his hair so he could fix it before it decided to crimp upwards into a birds nest. He had know that it was a mistake to braid it while it was wet, dammit.

"Coffee?" She offered, holding out a mug for him to take.

"Yeah, thanks."

"No problem." She sipped her coffee. "Thanks for letting me stay the night, but I gotta get going soon if I expect to get anything done."

"So soon?" He mocked, choking a little when she smacked his arm hard enough for the coffee to slosh up in the cup and almost burn his hand.

"Sorry!"

He sighed. "Some thanks this is, after all I've done for you-"

She stood on her tip-toes and kissed his cheek. "That enough of an apology?" She whispered.

"No."

"What? Was it bad or something?"

"No, just in the wrong place." He bent his head and kissed her on the mouth carefully, keeping it light. A lot of friends kissed each other out of affection, and he knew she knew this, so he could still back out of this if he turned out to be reading the signals wrong.

"Oh." She mumbled when they separated to breathe.

"Didn't you have somewhere to be?" he asked with a raise of his eyebrows.

"Right. Yes, of course. I can't afford to be late or anything."

"And I need to open my office."

Neither of them moved. After a moment or two of this, Luna gently removed his hot coffee mug and set it on the counter beside her empty one, wrapped her arms around him, and tilted her head back invitingly while keeping her eyes on his. He didn't speak, only leaned down and kissed her a little more aggressively, not caring about keeping it light.

Luna missed first period, but looked flushed and happy when she finally sprinted into the second class of the day for fifth-year Ravenclaws. The stuck-up girls who normally ignored her when not bullying her whispered nasty things about her "discovering" some new Creature for her father's 'stupid magazine', and even made some remarks about her possibly being on Muggle drugs. Normally a comment or two like that would ruin her morning since she hated it when people judged her father like that, but she couldn't be bothered to care about petty problems right now. Raphael had kissed her, and even though they hadn't made any frivolous speeches about undying love, she knew that he wasn't just taking advantage of her. Lord knows that she put up with that almost every night and had figured out how to tell the signs years ago.

--

Harry hummed something softly under his breath, Luna making up words to it beside him as they wandered the school grounds, looking for Dean. At first she hadn't wanted to share the tender moment from early morning with anyone else, intending to keep it close to her heart for when she was depressed, but Harry had asked why she looked so happy and she had caved in and told him most of what had occurred. He already knew what she did for a living, but she wasn't sure he knew the details of what kind of men paid for her services and didn't feel like enlightening him.

He had been happy for her, and the lingering doubts about whether or not he should tell her about Raphael's Angelhood went away since it was now entirely the Angel's responsibility to do so within his own time.

--

Grindelwald was pacing again, this time doing so around the circular table used by the other Ministers of the Dark. He wasn't the only one, and was consistently almost running into some fellow's new clerk, who would squeak at the sight of him. It was very annoying, and he was very, very happy that he had a capable assistant; no matter how sadistic she could be at times. As long as Ingrid wasn't removing _his _toenails, he didn't have a problem with her doing it to the Indian ambassador when he'd asked her if she was seeing anyone.

He grinned at the memory. He sometimes used it when he was upset with someone, mentally changing the face of the unfortunate victim to the object of it. It was a bad habit, he knew, but he hadn't felt the urge to bring it to life yet so he supposed it was alright.

The reason for the meeting was that they'd received intelligence about a new Dark Lord, and not the kind they endorsed, rising in the underground. He wasn't Human, from what their sources said, but he looked close enough to pass for it. They were still working on figuring out what he was so they could at least get a physical, and maybe some idea of how society treated them which might provide a lead to his motives.

"What is he calling himself again?" One of the older Ministers asked his massive mustache wiggling strangely as he spoke.

"We don't know yet." Ingrid spoke up when everyone looked at each other, not showing any signs of answering. "He might not even have picked one yet."

"Ah."

Gellert saw this as a good time to sit down. "What are we going to do about him? Should we recruit him, incarcerate him, or kill him?"

"I say we kill him. He leered at my cousin last Yule-" One of the Werewolf representatives attempted to cut in.

"Can we please leave personal vendettas out of this? This is supposed to be an unbiased discussion on a problem, not a time to bring up old grudges."

"What makes you think this is an old grudge?"

"Because the last time you bothered to celebrate the Yule season was near fifty years ago, and your sister has been dead for twenty." Gellert answered, stretching one of his arms over his head.

"Damn." The Werewolf muttered.

"Can we go over the man's crimes again? I think I missed a few in my notes." One of the old clerks asked.

"Why not? So far he has, that we know of mind you, committed eighteen murders in cold blood, two of which were children that he later used in an as yet unknown ritual that involved eating them, nine murders in hot blood and usually under the influence of alcohol, and he has violated many of the laws of fair treatment to Fellow Dark Creatures. Did I forget anything?" He asked his wife.

"Just the part about killing his mother after raping her while she was pregnant with his unborn younger brother. I think he was going to go after his older brother soon, from what we've observed."

"Oh, how'd I miss that one?"

"I don't know how your mind works, honey."

"Sounds like we're not going to be recruiting that one." The mustached man muttered. There were murmurs of agreement all around. Ingrid spoke up. "From what we know so far, I think its safe to say that this man is mentally unbalanced, which means that we cannot kill him until he has been properly treated to make sure that this was something he was fully aware of doing."

"That sounds reasonable." It was unanimously agreed that they should observe him for another month before pouncing on him and bringing him here for interrogation.

Gellert breathed a sigh of relief, and drank some tea. This Ministerial work could really be a pain sometimes.

--

End chapter 71

Is that plot I just wrote?


	72. Chapter 72

A/N: I don't update for a week, come back and look at my inbox, and there wasn't one bloody review! (grumbles) and yet here I am slaving over another chapter for you ingrates. I swear, this is worse than it would be if I had children…

CHAPTER 72

Skin crawling and goose bumps forming liberally over his arms, Bronislav entered the cave, wishing that his brother hadn't used their unnaturally long lives to master his begging techniques.

"Damn you, Vladimir…" He muttered, tripping over what he thought was an upraised stone and consequently landing in a pile of slime. At least he had worn his grimiest clothes for this.

"What was that comment, dear brother mine?" The Vampire's voice echoed a little off the walls, but it failed to disguise the laughter in his voice. Bronislav's eyebrows knitted when his ears picked up the faint skittering of rats. This dungeon wasn't as empty as they'd thought if there was enough sustenance to support rodents.

"Shush!" He quieted Vlad when he came up beside him and took a breath to make some remark about the state of Bronislav's shredded denims. Straining his ears, he heard something besides the sound of tiny paws. It sounded like moans, so he jerked his head in the direction they were coming from, knowing that Vladimir heard them too now. They crept along the passage, Vladimir transforming into a faint cloud and creeping along the ground like mist, half-hiding his younger brother.

Coming to a locked door made of rusty but still sturdy metal bars, Broni willed the lock to break and cast a silencing charm so it wouldn't creak when it opened. Slipping down towards the noises, they found the soot-stained room where the prison guards years ago would have gathered. As his brother had predicted, Broni found the fugitive Albus Dumbledore, Order of Merlin first class, standing over a writhing figure sprawled on the filthy floor. He lifted his Cruciatus curse with a sneer, leaving the body to spasm helplessly.

"Well? Are your friends worth this much pain and trouble or will you save us both the bother and talk?"

The body jerked so it could spit on him, apparently incapable of speech. Seeing their advantage when the old man raised his leg to viciously kick his captive in the face, Broni rushed out of the shadows and tackled him before he could say 'damn'.

"Got you!" Vladimir grinned, pointing the ex-headmaster's wand at his face while Broni pinned him. They ignored the prisoner as they made their escape in a half-crawl out of the ruined Wizarding prison that had preceded Azkaban, back when Dementors still roamed free and the Nameless Evil still lurked in the closest thing to a Pit of Hell, named Azkaban once some brave idiot ventured in and found it unoccupied. Not that that had anything to do with the present of course, except that the idiot had been Vladimir and he had emerged no longer Human.

"Who are you?" Albus barked, obviously losing his touch since his terror was still in his eyes.

"Oh, no one important. Just the people who are gonna take you to hell on earth. Or maybe we'll even give you the authentic treatment and pull a few strings to send you to the same division where we stuck Judas Escariot."

He blinked.

"You know!" He gesticulated wildly in his frustration, "The Apostle who betrayed the Lord Jesus when he came here to save our asses?" Albus still looked blank. "God, whatever, just get up and come along quietly or else I'll teach you what it feels like you experience being struck by lightning and survive to scream." Albus swallowed and kept his head down as he was lifted to his feet and guided down the hall back where the brothers had first entered.

"So, who was that you were torturing?" Vlad cheerfully asked, slapping Dumbledore on the back in an entirely inappropriate show of friendliness for the situation. He ignored Broni when he rolled his eyes at him.

"Nobody. Just a weasel that knew something and wouldn't say what, which made it interesting enough for me to ask."

"You've got quite a way of asking, you old bastard." Vladimir cackled, grinning wider when he saw Albus flinch. He hadn't bothered to alter his vocal cords so they would sound Human. Why should he? Nothing was quite as fun as scaring a man recently thought to be one of the most trustworthy members of society shitless.

Gellert had better be paying them properly for this.

--

"No, not now-" Harry's protests fell on deaf ears, Dean not looking like he was going to leave his neck alone anytime soon. Sighing, he relaxed his back against the wall, wincing a little when a section of the rough outdoor stone scraped his bare back from where his shirt had ridden up. It was the middle of spring, and apparently his boyfriend was susceptible to spring fever.

"I'm gonna miss you so much this summer!" Dean mumbled, pausing long enough to hug Harry plainly. Thinking about his empty bedroom which he had spent the past few years ensconced with Asmodeus, practically saturating the room in memories, made him cling to the Gryffindor's shoulders tightly.

"I'll miss you too, but you'll still write to me, right?"

"Of course I'll write! And maybe your family will let me come over, or at least let you come to my house." In his eyes Harry spied something twinkling but being consistently squashed. 'god, I hope I can brave this one' he wished and simply hugged him tighter before pulling away and heading back inside for History of Magic, which he was doing well in only because he liked the Goblin Wars. He simply could not convince himself to pay attention to the ghostly professor most days.

In two weeks he would be going home, and he didn't know if he was going to survive being separated from his sole distraction.

--

The fan blades swirled in a soothing circular pattern, and Raphael smiled up at them. It was okay for him to relax since he was alone and the door was locked. It was Saturday morning and he had decided to let the interns the Government had convinced him to take on to handle the patients all on their own today. He had even unplugged his phone in case they got smart and asked for his help.

He glanced away from the fascinating cracks in the ceiling long enough to glance at his clock and then the newly-framed picture of Luna she had given him for his birthday. It was a Muggle photo, so her waving arm was frozen in place, but her energy translated well anyway and it always made him feel like waving back. So far he had managed not to forget himself and do so, since that would be kind of embarrassing.

Someone knocked on his door. He rolled his eyes and called, "Who is it?"

"It's me, dumbass!" He choked on air when he heard the slightly high-pitched but still very angry voice. Only one person ever called him that and lived. He leapt to his feet as soon as he finished regaining the ability to breathe, hopped around his desk, and flung the door open to grab the short red-haired figure behind it in a fierce hug.

Several seconds later there was a muffled "Let me go, dammit!" and a gesticulating arm smacked him on the nose by accident. He reluctantly let him go, but kept his hands on his small, strong shoulders anyway.

"I was about to say that I missed you, but now I can't really say that I do since that comes with the package." Michael grumbled, keeping his face hidden on which he was _sure _was a bright-red blush by pretending to be occupied with smoothing his shirt, which was part of a Muggle school uniform. Raphael was slightly disappointed that he wasn't wearing a skirt, since that would have been fantastic blackmail.

"Well, if it helps, I missed you enough for the both of us." He smiled down at him and ruffled his shaggy hair. "Your hair needs cutting." He was feeling very brave indeed today.

"My hair never needs cutting!" Michael hissed, raising his head without realizing what he was doing to glare at the other Angel.

Raphael raised an eyebrow when he spotted the blush that the redhead had been trying to hide. Michael realized this and punched his arm a little harder than was friendly and brushed past him and into his office, helping himself to the ancient percolator coffee machine and sneering at the foam cup full of brown acid before dumping half the sugar shaker into it.

"Think you have enough sugar in that, luv?"

"No." Michael answered, dumping in the rest and carelessly tossing the empty canister to the blonde. He moved out of the way and allowed it to land on the carpeted office floor with a soft 'thud'.

"Lazy." Michael smirked, sipping the coffee.

"Psycho."

"I'm not the one who spends every Gathering staring down Queen Mab's dress. Pervert."

"Says the one who always tries to steal something when you visit Hell in some kind of twisted revenge against you-know-who-I-mean. Grudge-holder."

"Pedophile. I know about that blonde Human girl, you know."

Raphael became serious. "Oh yeah? What do you think of her?"

"From what I've seen, I have no problem with her. she's a nice girl, and odd enough to like you, which is saying something since-"

"Oh, shut up!"

--

"Um…" They stared down at their prisoners, the same problem occurring to the both of them at the same time. "What are we going to do with Harry this summer when we have all these people in the house without breaking out Vow of Silence?"

"We could lie to him?" Vladimir offered, feeling a little helpless now.

"No, I don't want to do that. Maybe we could have him stay with what's-his-face?"

"Who? Oh! Him? Are you sure?"

"Yeah; he owes me, and we both know that Harry isn't some common brat who would irritate him." Bronislav rubbed his chin, mentally going over all the variables of Harry staying with his old friend.

"You know what, this might work."

"Of course it will work, dear brother mine. It was my idea, after all, and my ideas are always better because my brain isn't clogged with suppressed blood-lust and-"

"Bronislav, if you value your throat, stop talking while you're ahead."

Some of the prisoners who hadn't figured out who their captors were before now swallowed. Apparently the Polski brothers _weren't _figments of the imagination.

--

End chapter 72

Sorry it's short, but I'm jetlagged a little still. Reviews might make me feel better, though.


	73. Chapter 73

CHAPTER 73

Her legs blurred as she sped up, navigating expertly through the trees and vaulting herself over the first of the boulders that surrounded the foothills of the mountain. A moment later she was at the point where the grass gave way to stone, and in another she reached the summit. Pausing at the top, she dusted the snow off of a long flat stone and seated herself. The view was amazing, and she was very happy that she had decided to do this on a clear day since she really wasn't in the mood to peer through clouds. Digging through the pockets of her leather jacket, stolen from her boyfriend of course since he always had the best clothes, she pulled out her pack of cigarettes and lit one up. The wind blew the wisps of hair escaping from her braid dangerously near the fiery end, but they weren't capable of burning anymore so she didn't bother to brush them away until they whipped at her eyeballs.

"God, this is boring." She sneered, flicking ash from her cigarette and crossing her legs. When she finished her cigarette she was going to have to run down the other side and deal with the damned Ministry of the Dark's notorious customs before she could make her appointment. She loved the speed advantage that being a Vampire gave her, but with the way the sun was glaring into her eyes she also regretted it. Finishing her smoke a few moments later, she stood and dusted the snow off of herself and tensed her muscles before dashing down the mountainside towards the deceivingly dilapidated structure that served as the most helpful source of information and direction for Dark beings.

Skidding to a sloppy stop at the river dividing her from her destination, she leapt over it in a smooth motion and landed safely in a pile of icy sludge on the other side. Shaking her boots to get it off, not caring that the quality fur was now matting and tangling itself as the water froze in the air and that it would eventually become nearly impossible to remove them.

The gate loomed tall and foreboding in front of her, or at least it looked so from a distance. Coming closer, she noticed the poorly-constructed and brightly colored streamers draped over it and above the banner that declared, 'Happy Spring' to the wildlife, in case they could read. Rolling her eyes, she pushed it open and stepped inside the courtyard, delicately picking her way through the puddles that no doubt housed Creatures not happy to be disturbed by a lone female Vampire, no matter how powerful she was or what organization she was a founder of.

She permitted herself to break her stoic façade with a soft humming noise, passing easily through the wards as they recognized her, bypassing the Werewolf intern at the front desk in favor of the stairs. She would have normally taken the elevator, but the stairs were faster and she was going to be late, something that she despised in other people and herself.

The hallway painted puce greeted her after 8 flights of stairs and she skimmed the door numbers as she went, finding room 839 at last and rapping sharply on the frosted glass pane with the black letters, 'Anger Management'. Her counselor answered the door, handed her a packet of papers for her boss, and closed it in her face. Growling a little under her breath, she kicked the door frame sharply, knocking off a sizable chunk of the wood. The halls blended into a smear of greasy colors as she moved onto her final destination, two floors up.

Bursting inside, not bothering to knock, she didn't slow her momentum until her bottom collided with the seat of the Freudian sofa. She propped her feet up on the end table after shrugging out of her stolen jacket and dumping her backpack onto the grimy tiled floor, raising her eyebrows expectantly. The mousy woman behind the desk lowered hers, looking significantly to where her filthy boots were soiling what had been the only truly clean article of furniture. She sighed, lowered them, and removed her cigarettes from her coat. She offered one to the silent female, who accepted it and the light she held out for her.

After taking a few lazy drags, she spoke. "Sylvi, you were 46 seconds late. Is something bothering you, or are you just hungry?"

"A little of both, ma'am."

"So I am now deserving of a title of respect? Whatever did I do to attain that?" She drawled, smirking when the Vampire squirmed, obviously not noticing the tone of deference she had been using.

"I don't know." She muttered, shifting her weight from one side to the other until she was comfortable again.

"Am I upsetting you?"

"What? No!" She forced a laugh. "We haven't been sitting for five minutes yet; what could you have done?"

"It's alright, sweetheart, to be nervous. I was always nervous around your grandmother, even when I was asked to identify her body at the mortuary."

Sylvi nodded a little, removing her cigarette from her mouth and holding it carefully between two fingers. She avoided the older woman's eyes.

"Um, Mom, I made this appointment so I could talk to you about something- someone, really."

"Oh?"

"Yeah; you see, some months ago, I entered into a romantic liaison. One that I would like to make permanent, but I wanted your approval first."

"I'm honored that my wayward daughter even bothered to recall where my office was. who is this person and why do you need approval?"

"Well, I know you don't really like his Kind and-"

"Darling, as long as he isn't a Demon, I don't care. As long as you are happy, which would be a miracle."

Sylvi swallowed and took a long drag of her smoke, slumping into the sofa. She'd been afraid of this. "That's the problem."

"What do you mean that's the problem?" Her mother snapped, eyes flashing and glowing slightly crimson. There were some serious disadvantages to having a Vampire for a parent. When Sylvi remained silent, she raised herself out of her office chair, towering over her, and roared, "Answer me!"

"I don't need to answer you when you already know the answer!" She screamed back, standing as well and hiding a wince when her feet felt like they were being stabbed with a million tiny ice daggers.

Her mother seemed to reel a little bit. "Oh Sylvi, I warned you about Them and gave you all the many, many reasons why it is best to show polite respect but nothing more in their presence. If you have a falling out, or he tires of you, your very core could shatter and then me, a poor old woman, would be left alone with no other relatives in this world since you've decided not to have children and continue our family line."

"God, mother, not the family thing again!" Sylvi moaned, sitting back down and burying her face in her hands. She felt like crying and really wished that she had stayed home for once. Her instincts had told her not to go, and she had ignored them, so perhaps this was just the sort of punishment she deserved for being so stupid. Her instincts had never led her astray before.

"I believe I have every right to be bitter about you standing between me and grandmother-hood."

"Wasn't raising me enough?" Sylvi sneered, lowering her hands after mentally gathering the strength to keep the second important issue to herself. From her immaturity, she could tell that her mother would take her pregnancy entirely the wrong way, especially since the father was a notorious Demon.

"Sylvi, why is it that every time we see each other we end up in an argument?" she sounded tired and resigned, but Sylvi felt no remorse. There were reasons why she could only stand the sight of her every several years. An entire childhood plus a hundred years were plenty of time to be mothered, she thought.

"How should I know?" She whispered, standing and pulling her coat back about herself. The door shut with a click behind her, and she suddenly felt all of her energy draining out of her. She would be taking the elevator down, then. What would she tell Asmodeus? Should she tell him at all? She had intended to propose to him, since he wasn't the sort of man you let get away, but maybe it would be better if she raised her child on her own.

Rubbing her eyes, she pressed the button for the Lobby and leaned against the wall of the elevator, ignoring the young male Human eyeing her appreciatively. Perhaps she should have worn a looser pair of trousers that did not flatter her figure so well. He was just moving closer when the elevator stopped, the doors opening with an upsetting creak.

She made her escape and waited until she was barely out of the wards to activate the Portkey that she rarely needed to use, landing soundlessly on the floor of the entrance hall of the European Vampire Alliance. Achille eyed her from his seat on the carpeted floor near the fireplace briefly before turning back to his book, his fingers poised to turn the page. She tugged on one of his curls as she passed him, grinning when he swatted fruitlessly at her.

The door to the rooms that Eirikr sometimes shared with Jacinthe, depending entirely on whether or not they wanted to kill each other was open. She wasn't sure if this was a good sign or not, but approached anyway and knocked on the door nearest to her.

"Come in!" He called from several rooms away; doors similarly left ajar or sometimes even propped completely open with jars of preserved animals or various other curiosities. He had never quite gotten over his scientist's edge, which was part of the reason he and Jacinthe had met in the first place.

Reaching his sitting room, she nodded to Eornest, the German representative she had never really gotten to know despite having worked for the same man and occupied the same premises for several thousand years. "Sir, I've got your paperwork from that dame at the Ministry."

"Oh, thank you Sylvi. Could you do me one more favor?" He asked, taking the homework that was supposed to teach him how to control his temper and setting it on top of a stack of torture instructional manuals.

"Sure. What did you need? Coffee?"

"Um, now that I think of it, coffee would be lovely, but I do need you to find Jacinthe for me and send her here. She went off to take a nap a few hours ago and I need her opinion again."

"Okay. Be right back. Did you want coffee too, Eornest?" He looked up from where he had been scrutinizing the area of her stomach to nod curtly.

She desperately hoped that he didn't know what she thought he knew.

--

Rubbing his face into his quilt, Harry mumbled some vague protests while Draco vainly tugged on his arms in an attempt to rouse him.

"Come _on _Harry! The train leaves in less than an hour and you need to shower!"

He shot up in bed at that, dashing into the bathroom and startling the showering Blaise badly enough to make him shriek and slip on the wet tile to smack his back on the ground.

"Oh my god, are you okay?" he gushed, helping him up and giggling when he they stumbled over each other. He took a very quick shower, dressed, and attempted to brush his hair for several minutes before giving up and dumping his hairbrush in his full trunk. He had packed everything since his guardians had notified him at the last minute that he would be spending the summer with a trusted friend of their's who would pick him up at the train station. He desperately hoped this friend wasn't completely insane like they were.

He managed to secure a compartment with Dean on the train, and spent the ride getting to know his lips, tongue, and teeth intimately, since he would be separated from them for the next nearly three months.

--

End chapter 73

Damn it all, review!


	74. Chapter 74

CHAPTER 74

Stepping off the train with Dean still attached to his hips and smelling his hair, he looked around for someone holding a sign or something with his name on it. The crowds milled around them and gradually got smaller and smaller but still he didn't see anyone looking for him. He said goodbye to his friends as they left with their families, and finally to Dean, who would be taking a Muggle bus home but had decided to wait with Harry for as long as he could in the empty train station.

"Bye, babe. Don't miss me too much!" He smiled, pressing their foreheads together easier now that he'd gotten a growth spurt. Harry smiled back sadly and pecked his lips.

"See you soon I hope."

"Yeah, I hope so too." He trailed his hand out of Harry's slowly and walked through the barrier with a final glance back over his shoulder. As soon as he was gone, Harry slumped onto a bench and put his face in his hands. In the letter Bronislav had sent him, it had said that this friend of theirs was, while trustworthy, a little eccentric and warned him to be on his toes in case something weird happened. It was a very comforting thought.

What had he gotten himself into?

Just then, he heard some footsteps, echoing in the empty station strangely. He raised his head just enough to peek through his hands, gasping when he saw a petite redheaded male enter cautiously, looking around himself sharply. He was wearing what looked like a butchered primary school uniform, the button-down shirt hanging in unflattering folds on his thin arms. His eyes landed on Harry, and he moved closer slowly.

"Are you Harry?"

"Yes. Are you the person I'm spending my summer with?"

"Absolutely. You're…not what I was expecting, after what I heard about you and- never mind."

"Wait, no, finish what you were saying." Harry stood and came to stand a few feet away from him, placing his hands on his hips. He winced when he pressed against a hickey hidden by his shirt. Dean had been very intent on making him remember him over this summer.

"I, uh…"

"You what? What did you hear?" Now he was getting irritated. Whoever this stranger was, whether they knew his family or not, had no right to insinuate things about him. And where had he even heard rumors about him anyway?!

"I heard you were with Asmodeus, that you guys were in love or something…I guess they were wrong, judging by your face."

Harry stared, mind blank. "What- how-who?"

"Um…I'm Michael. Nice to meet you in person at last." He held out his hand.

--

End chapter 74

End of Spells and Bloodlust. The next installment of the series, which will cover 7th year and more, will be up in a few days at the most and titled Of Snakes and Hellfire. Thank you to everyone who read this, and a special thanks to those who bother to review 


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